Hobbies and Interests
Technology in all forms has always caught my eye, be it technology in a traditional sense meaning computers, electronics or software, or be it less obvious such as the technology within auto mechanics. This love has provided me with a very logical and straight forward line of thinking, which has been paramount in developing and honing troubleshooting skills; be it a faulty driver on a computer or a mis-firing fuel injector in my car.
The Outdoors have been very prevalent throughout my life. Since the age of 8 I’ve spent more than 2 years in total camping, hiking, rock climbing, and surviving. This had a great deal to do with my personal development within the Boy Scouts, but has also has been an important part of my spiritual development.
Music, there really is nothing quite like walking off the field after a great performance to the sound of thousands of people standing and cheering because of your group. I have been involved in a musical organization for just about thirteen years and have loved most every minute of it. Most notably has been my experience in various marching bands, (in high school and in college). Marching band takes a great deal of commitment from “Band Camp” in the last weeks of summer, some of the hottest days of the year all the way to championships or bowl games (most recent being the Gildan New Mexico bowl) at the end of December. I had even been given the chance to partake in the Filming of the Annie Remake coming this December (2014)! All the while balancing school, work and still finding time to continue other pursuits.
The Boy Scouts of America has been the main driving force behind my development; shaping my core values, ethics, and preparing me for the real world. Traditional scout skills not only provide a basis for survival skills and values for life, they also translate into the ability of being well rounded and having basic knowledge in many areas of interest. At the conclusion of high school I had earned the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest award available in the Boy Scout program.
The rank of Eagle Scout involves at the very least, 21 merit badges (21 separate experiences, skills, and knowledge bases), at least 5 terms of leadership within the Troop (My terms included: Troop instructor, patrol leader, assistant senior patrol leader, senior patrol leader, and Junior assistant scout master) and the completion of an approved eagle project, which in it’s self is a great undertaking; Involving the entire project from the initial planning procedures, receiving approval from not only the National Boy Scout Council, but also the township and any other groups involved. The assembly of a labor force (my own group being 20 people) the procurement of supplies, then the easy part; execution. After that you must follow up with the National Boy Scout Council in the form of paperwork.
This Paperwork is actually available in PDF format Here.
During my third year of college, I still had little aim or direction as to where I wanted to go, or do with my skills. It finally hit me as I broke through a friend’s forgotten password for the ump-teenth time. I found something that I was good at: hacking into and gaining access into computer systems and networks. My first major step along this route was to take part in a competition offered across the entirety of the state of New Jersey, The Cyber Center’s Counter Hack Competition, and as luck would have it, I performed well enough to get into the championships where I had placed 27th place out of the top 100 would be hackers in the state! Update: I have taken place in this competition again this past year, and I have placed 25th in the Tri-state area (6th in the State of PA).