| What is your most memorable childhood experience? | The injuries. Jammed my finger so badly once it swelled up and turned black for two weeks. Once, I went 'roller mushing' which entailed roller blades and being pulled by a dog while on them. My wrist got caught in the leash and in front of me, I saw a slab of concrete in the sidewalk that jutted upward about 3 inches. I figured I should at least try to jump it or I would certainly eat it. Well, I jumped but one of my front rollers got caught on the slab and I landed chin first on the ground. Still have scars on my fingers from where they were torn up. |
| What immediate family member do you closely identify with and why? | My father. I feel I've learned the most from him and what stories I've heard from him. He's done a lot with his life and I hope to help him achieve even more before it ends. |
| What character traits do you admire in an individual? | Humor. It is a decent indicator of wit, intelligence and instinct. In my experience those who are defined as funny generally relate better to the world as it is and connect with those around them on a deeper level. It transcends ethnic, physical and class boundaries. Humor makes life easier to deal with, especially the hard times. |
| What is the funniest thing ever to happen to you? | Where to begin. I have some entertaining stories, a few more entertaining than others. One memorable one from my childhood dealt with my grandpa and a deer. He'd built a tree house for me, in which my grandma and I were playing. She looks out across the field on the other side of the fence surrounding the property and a young buck was bounding across the field as if it were running from something. We exchanged thoughts about the possibility of it vaulting the fence itself. Well it did and started running towards my grandpa, who was sleeping in a lawn chair with his cowboy hat over his face. The buck keeps going and jumps over my grandpa knocking the hat off his face. He panicked and falls out of his chair onto the ground, cursing. He looks around and sees the buck running away, begins cursing at it and yells "Where's my shotgun?" At that point my grandma and I were rolling around laughing at him as he stormed away to find his gun. |
| If time and money were not an issue, where would you travel and why? | The mountainous regions of Europe. The fields and hills are some of the most beautiful places I've seen in pictures. Plus, the climate is easier to deal with than say, a rain forest. |
| When and if you ever have children, what would you like to pass on to them? | The ability to cope. I believe that it is every person's duty to themselves to go out into the world and experience failure. If we don't open our eyes to cracks in the pavement, how do we know what is underneath it? Life is a process of failure and restoration. Learning and problem solving is something every human being must go through or they cannot truly call themselves such. The ability to do so is what makes us human. This is the ability to grow and achieve things greater than ourselves. This process breeds strength. Strength is envied and respected in every culture. Strength means survival and survival means experience. With experience one can predict actions and consequences with greater ease, thereby avoiding problems. If the individual is strong enough, they put themselves on a path where a problem is inevitable. Foreseeable but unavoidable, either by choice or fate. This sort of risk only serves to beget more experience. In summary, life is a process of learning and dealing with obstacles in the most beneficial manner. This is the ability to truly cope. |
