About

I am originally from the small town of Avon, NY about 20 miles south of the City of Rochester and lived there through high school. Upon graduation from Avon High School I attended Houghton College and graduated in 2013  with a double major in Mathematics and Secondary Education.  Seeking employment as a high school math teacher, I was able to find a job teaching math at Asheboro High School in Asheboro, NC right out of college. During my time teaching, I missed the thrill of learning higher level mathematics so I went back to school and earned a masters degree in Mathematics from Emporia State University. Then in 2018 I made the decision to leave high school education and start my PhD in mathematics at the University of Pittsburgh, where I continue my studies to this day. 

Hobbies and Passions:

I enjoy learning new things and my curiosity tends to lead me headfirst into many different hobbies. At some point in the last few years I have spent considerable time and resources on the following wonderful activities:

I read a lot! I love reading classics, science fiction, fantasy, and non-fiction. My favorite author is J.R.R. Tolkien, whose passion for languages helped him produce arguably the most comprehensive body of fantasy to date. I also like to read presidential biographies, with my favorite thus far being Edmund Morris' three book set on Theodore Roosevelt. My great reading quest is to read everything written by Mark Twain, Leo Tolstoy, and Charles Dickens. 

While I play numerous instruments adequately (guitar, ukulele, drums, and a little piano) and enjoy singing, I also have an extensive collection of vinyl records and cassette tapes courtesy of my aunt and uncle. Also special thanks to my father in law for helping start my record collection and providing me with a player, receiver, and speakers. Some of my favorite artists right now are Styx, Don McLean, Chicago, Rush, Phil Collins, and Heart.

I mainly enjoy film photography, though at this point in my life I have neither the time nor money for using film. Hence I am relegated to digital photography, which is still fun in some ways, but lacks the components that makes film photography so special. Someday though I will get back into film!

I own many fountain pens, including my big three: Visconti Van Gogh Starry Night, TWISBI Draco, and Conklin Mark Twain Crescent Filler. No mathematician should live there life without a fountain pen. Correction- nobody should live their life without a fountain pen. I also dabble in calligraphy, though my only script I am "competent" in is black letter (think like Gothic writing).

Turns out it is really fun to recycle old paper and make new paper from it. I got pretty good at it, though I am currently on hiatus due to time constraints on my life.