About Me

My educational journey has provided me with both experience in public school and schooling in the private sector. I attended Walt Disney Elementary (yes, that was it’s actual name) where we had every opportunity for learning. I grew up in two upper middle class suburban neighborhoods, which allowed for my school to be well funded. My junior high school was up the road from where I went to elementary school, it was called Pine Valley Junior High. As it is for many, my junior high years were terrible. I had minimal friends and during this time I began to get the sense that I was quite different than the rest of the boys my age. For high school, I chose to attend a private school that my cousins attended. Valley Christian High School was small, but known for a superior education experience. I graduated high school in June of 2001 and then I decided to attend a small Christian college called BIOLA University in the Los Angeles area. The experience I had this first year of college was awful, so I decided to come home and attend community college. I graduated from Las Positas Community College with an Associate’s Degree in Visual Communications. I then transferred to Sacramento State University to pursue Interior Design, but that is when the economy crashed and I ended up dropping out for many reasons.

I started working when I was 15 at a fitness club cleaning locker rooms, but got a job at Starbucks when I was 16. Having the outlet of working allowed me to have an entirely different friend group outside of school, which saved me because I had a rough time with friends in high school. At this time, I became very involved in coffee culture (before Starbucks became as large as it is today) and took an interest in swing dancing. As I grew older, my friends from work helped me realize my true authentic self, and I was able to come to terms with the fact I am a gay man. There were many struggles with this, but that is a story for another time. I stayed with Starbucks as a career and worked in many areas throughout California. Having this job allowed me to transfer from California to New York in October of 2010. 

I moved to New York with my best friend and let’s just say it was a hard first four years. During this time I was put through the wringer, financially, emotionally, and physically. Everyone from home said I would not last six months, but hear I am almost 13 years later! In January of 2013 I left Starbucks and worked in the events industry. I loved this job, but it did not provide me with benefits or retirement, so I made the decision to also work at Whole Foods Market. A month after I started working at Whole Foods Market in 2014, I broke my ankle which prevented me from working altogether. I met my partner, Rick, during this time and joined his family. He had four children (two sets of twins) on his own through surrogacy, and today they are ages 11 and 16. When I was able, I was rehired at Whole Foods Market, and worked my way up to manager of the Specialty Department in the Chelsea location. I realized that career-wise I was very unhappy, but not qualified to do any other sort of career. That is when I decided to go back to school and become a teacher in special education. I stepped down from my position and am a full-time employee at Whole Foods Market while I finished my Bachelor’s Degree at Queens College in Art History in 2022 and am currently in the MAT Dual Certification Program at Queens College.