Personal

I am originally from eastern North Carolina. I come from a family of educators, so it's not really a surprise that I ended up in education as well. Both parents, my grandmother, aunt, and uncle were (or still are) teachers and principals in the public school systems. There is something like 150 years of education experience between them. After high school I attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where I was a solid student, but nothing outstanding. 

UNC was most important to me because it was where (1) I met the woman who would become my wife and (2) I figured out what I wanted to do with my life. I entered UNC with the lofty ambitions of MBA and/or JD. However, I realized during my undergraduate career that I wanted to work with students (although I didn't necessarily want to be a teacher). The "a-ah" moment came while I was working as a student orientation leader. I was enjoying it so much, I decided that's what I wanted to do with my life. It's a good thing that maximum earning potential is not my primary driving factor.

After college we got married and we spent several years moving around NC for jobs and graduate schools for the both of us. I worked for Louisburg College, Guilford College, UNC-Greensboro, Wal-Mart, the American Red Cross, Forsyth Technical Community College, and finally Wake Forest University. After our graduation from UNC, my wife worked at UNC-Chapel Hill, UNC-Greensboro, Louisburg College, Davidson College, and finally Wake Forest University.

Our son was born in 2000 and our daughter was born in 2004. At the time of this update, my son is pursuing his a Masters degree. My daughter is currently in her junior year as a WFU undergraduate.

In the little bit of spare time I have, I like to read, listen to music, watch college basketball, play golf, tinker with tech, play and run tabletop RPGs, and cook. I've recently gotten back in PC video games after a long hiatus.

I minimally participate in social media in my personal life, sort of. . . . Maybe it's age/generational. I'm just not as in to it as others I know. It isn't that I don't see the value in it. When used correctly and effectively, social media is a powerful, connective experience. However, most don't seem to use it in an effective way. For too many it seems to just be a narcissistic, "hey, look at me, I'm great" tool.