I am currently the Coordinator for North Campus Facilities with Campus Recreation Services on campus and have worked for CRS in various positions since my undergrad graduation. I am married with a three year old son and currently live in Elkridge after spending seven years in Baltimore. I am a Maryland native and can never really see myself leaving the state (or the university for that matter). My wife is the athlete of the family, having completed an Iron Man triathlon in 2009 and running constantly since our son was born. I am working on it, but golf is more my sport of choice. We have three cats, one Katrina rescue, one from the MDSPCA where we used to volunteer and a stray that we couldn't bring ourselves to put up for adoption.
Going through college, I was certain that I was going to be a social studies teacher at some point. I grew up on Kent Island and while I joke about my high school being in a corn field (it was), it served me quite well. It also kept me pretty insulated from the realities that a lot of other students face and I develop a greater appreciation for the benefits I had for no other reason than being lucky I grew up in a positive environment. My time at Maryland has not just taught me about adversity in our country through textbooks, but it has also given me faces and names to go with it too.
I have met students who have had to fight so hard to earn everything that they have. As a result, education and the opportunities it provides will always resonate with me. That led me to my article about a partnership between Northwestern & CPS. Chicago has a long road ahead in terms of the necessary systemic change to make their system thrive, but programs like this provide opportunity and can demonstrate that there are there are people genuinely interested in the success of students. It also creates role models that can be appreciated and imitated in their communities. I'm really looking forward to watching you all work as role models in your own right.
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