| What is your most memorable childhood experience? | When I was ten, our family hiked the Grand Canyon. We took an Amtrak train out, and got to view the countryside as we traveled. While at the canyon, we spent a day hiking to the bottom, carrying everything we needed. We camped overnight, then hiked out the next day. It was a beautiful and arduous trip that I hope to remember forever. |
| What immediate family member do you closely identify with and why? | My brother. We are both engineers, play hockey, enjoy Legos, hiking, and the outdoors, and share many other interests. |
| What character traits do you admire in an individual? | Intelligence, determination, self-reliance, a great sense of humor, and honesty. |
| What is the funniest thing ever to happen to you? | It's more of a funny story that unfolded in front of me. I was traveling through South Dakota with my father and sister. Family trips were a mainstay growing up. On this particular trip we decided to stop for breakfast at Big Al's Oasis, which is a restaurant, hotel, gift shop in South Dakota. Once we were seated, we all ordered pancakes, and my father ordered hot tea to go with breakfast. Our plates arrived and we started to dig in. The maple syrup pitcher and metal tea pot were very similar in size and my father had both sitting in front of him. We were chatting away when my sister nudged me with her elbow. My father was in the middle of telling a story and he had the metal teapot hovering over his pancakes, not realizing it wasn't the maple syrup pitcher. Sharing a big grin we waited to see if he would catch himself before tea ended up on the pancakes. But he didn't! He was so engrossed in the story he was telling he poured tea all over his pancakes thinking it was maple syrup. My sister and I started laughing uproariously, with my poor dad looking completely befuddled for a split second before he realized what had happened. We still tease him about that. |
| If time and money were not an issue, where would you travel and why? | I would love to take a grand tour of Europe, seeing Paris, Rome, Athens, etc. I am also interested in visiting Africa to see the wildlife. |
| When and if you ever have children, what would you like to pass on to them? | A love of learning, self-confidence, determination, and financial freedom. |
