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I was born and raised in Los Angeles County, California. I lived in 28 houses before I was 18.  I graduated from California High School in Whittier at the age of 17. Seeking some stability and a chance to "See the world", I joined the Army in 1982, where I served in the Military Police Corps. I attended Basic Training and AIT at Ft. McClellan, Alabama. I graduated in April of 1983 and received my first orders for permanent duty station at Ft. Polk, Louisiana. I remained in Louisiana for 19 months as a Garrison MP, assigned to the 210th MP Company.

My next assignment took me out of country for the first time, (except for Tijuana and Ensenada Mexico.) I was assigned to Camp Sinop, Turkey. This was one of the most extraordinary places I've ever seen, located at the Northern most point of Turkey, 63 kilometers from Russia. The camp was located on a peninsula in the Black Sea, with high cliffs on the north side and white sandy beaches on the south side. I really enjoyed meeting the Turkish people and experiencing their culture. During my stay I had the opportunity to travel to the Capitol city of Ankara and to sail the Black Sea east past Samsun. My friend Mike Whalen, and I also spent a lot of time walking and camping all over the north coast in our off time.

After receiving a honorable discharge in 1985 I out-processed the Army at Ft Dix, New Jersey. From there I traveled to Rockville Maryland and spent a month with my buddy Kevin Kirby. We attended a couple of Terrapin football games and a few MU fraternity parties. (His fraternity was right next door to the house featured in St. Elmo's Fire.) We also traversed the local hot spots, such as Baltimore, Georgetown, and Washington D.C. From there I went to Atlanta Georgia to visit another buddy, Robby Harman. He gave me the grand tour and showed me lots of the local hot spots, including Stone Mountain. I stayed there, enjoying the Georgia peaches for 35 days before finally heading home to Orange County, California.

Once I arrived back home, I worked several jobs looking for the one that provided me with security and a place to grow. These included Wherehouse Video & Music, Security Pacific National Bank, and my favorite, Griffin Yacht Tours. I served as a deck hand and first mate aboard a 65', Japanese Hulled sail/power yacht. From there I cruised all over Long Beach and all of the South facing beaches along the Orange County coastline. Unfortunately, it all came to a bitter end on my first journey to Catalina Island. We were scheduled to take a group of 25 people across the channel, but the weather service issued a warning for boaters and the group cancelled at the last minute. However, my captain decided we could go anyway, three of us. Initially, it started out being really fun with the increased surf and the rise and fall of the boat. But soon we encountered winds up to 60 mph and waves that seemed taller than the highest sails of our craft. About midway, we realized that we couldn't continue on using the sails because boat was being tossed about like a toy. Myself and a gentlemen named Bud were the only available crew members that could lower the sails. He raced for the jib as I lowered the main sail. After I secured the main sail I headed forward to help Bud, he was having a lot of difficulty battling the wind. Just as I came close enough to reach the jib a gust of wind grabbed the partially lowered sail and pushed Bud over the top and into the water. It was the last time anyone ever saw him alive. That ended my hope of being first mate on a travel ship.

In July of 1988 I took a job with American Funds Service Company, a small mutual fund company based in Los Angeles. When I first started there they had fewer that $80 billion dollars in invested assets and fewer than 200 employees in the 3 floored office building located in Brea, California. Over time they experienced a lot of growth and eventually held over $200 billion in assets and had service centers in Brea, San Antonio, Indianapolis, and Norfolk, Virginia. I started in the mailroom, and by the time they decided to open the Norfolk office I was working in Retirement Services. It was right after the Los Angeles riots that the management asked if anyone would be interested in relocating to Virginia to help open the new office. Myself and 65 of my closest friends decided to make the move. I arrived in Virginia in October of 1992 and helped to build a staff of Shareholder Services Associates. In May of 1993, after training all of their representatives to handle Retirement Services calls, I was promoted to Supervisor in the Shareholder Services Department. In addition to providing support for 9-12 phone representatives I also was charged with many departmental tasks and responsibilities, including regulatory policy for retirement plans, Team Leader of the Fund/Serve group handling electronic transactions via the NSCC, and Operations Team Leader.

In May, 2000, I left American Funds to pursue my first degree. I attended ECPI College of Technology where I received an Associates of Applied Sciences degree in Computer & Information Technology. I majored in Web Design, Graphic Arts, and Programming. My final GPA was 3.94, with an overall GPA of 4.0 in my major. I was also a member of Phi Theta Kappa Honors Society and served as the president of The Culture Club; a student organization focusing on diversity. I was  placed on the National Deans List for 2001.

Currently, I live in Virginia Beach, Virginia and I'm working to continue my learning and gain experience with Web Development, Graphic Design for the Internet, and Database Management. I volunteer for the American Diabetes Association and other reputable charities as needed. I still travel as much as I can. In the last year I've been to Italy, Amsterdam, South Dakota, Las Vegas, The Grand Canyon National Park, and Chicago, Illinois. I'm hoping to visit the United Kingdom and Australia in the not-too-distant future.

For a copy of my resume click here.

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