From birth to college

Here is a quick rundown of my journey to college...

From my birth in 1987 to the end of high school:

From when I was born to about 4 or 5 years old, we lived in a house in Summit Place in OKC, OK. We then moved to a new house... in the same neighborhood... and were there for many many years...

In elementary school, I was the smart kid who played soccer every single day at recess. I was always very small and fast, and that worked to my advantage quite nicely on the playground. I remember wanting to be an astronaut when I grew up but that didn't happen. I heard astronauts had to be good at math and I wanted no part of that.

My most vivid memory from elementary school was when my kindergarten teacher sat me down and had a talk with me after I got caught stealing 'tickets', the currency of choice in a kindergarten class.

I was also in a Farm Fresh commercial when I was in kindergarten... oh the good old days...

As for middle school, this is my super awkward stage. I was pretty shy and just sort of weird, but I guess it all worked out. I had a massive growth spurt in 7th grade but sadly that was about all the growing I've ever done. I grew quickly and it gave me some knee issues, but I managed. I quit soccer before 8th grade to pursue football. My new dream: play in the NFL.

My most vivid memory from middle school was during PE class in the morning of September 11, 2001. They called off PE for the day and let everyone watch the news for a couple hours. It was the most unbelievable thing I had ever seen and I'll never forget what it felt like to watch those towers fall.

In high school, things pretty well went according to the generic 'high school kid' template. I played football, had a few girlfriends, and spent far too much time watching TV and eating. High school football probably had the biggest impact on me because it showed me what working hard over a long period of time can bring you. It made me appreciate doing something for the long-term rather than just doing it for instant success.

My most vivid memory from high school was when I tore my ACL days before our first scrimmage sophomore year. I had to sit out the entire year and had to play with a knee brace for all of my Junior year. This pretty much cut out all hopes of the NFL thing, so I refocused again. This time, I decided I wanted to be an architect... but as I'll explain later in the college post, that didn't really pan out either...