The University of Florida

Being born in Gainesville, Florida, has it's advantages. For one, I was born a Florida Gator. My father, Gator alumnus and retired employee, eats, drinks, and sleeps anything that is Gator related. This, of course, left a mark on me. As a baby, I regularly attended Gator football games and the annual Gator Growls. By middle and high school I was attending basketball games regularly as my family took a liking to the Lon Kruger and Billy Donovan eras of Gator Basketball. "Steve Spurrier" was a familiar topic of conversation and I owe him a debt of gratitude for the couple of vacations to Atlanta and New Orleans for SEC Footbal Chams games and Sugar Bowls. As I moved into high school, my parents became increasingly involved in organizations like the Gator Basketball Tip-Off Club. Meanwhile, I was making academic contact with UF, often using the University's Library West to find books for research papers and working as a computer club member with UF's NERDC (North East Regional Data Center). By the time I graduated high school (it's no mystery!) I was destined to be accepted into the University of Florida. In the summer of 1996, I moved out of my parents house to Fletcher Hall, about 9 miles away. I picked Fine Arts: Electronic Intermedia as my major and spent the next four years doing what I do best: "Being a Gator!" Those four years included my attending the 1996 Sugar Bowl National Champs football game against FSU in New Orleans, partying, studying, art exhibitions and lectures (I was a Fine Arts student after all), an introduction to the evils of the credit card, stopping by my dad's office for money (regularly), and everything else that comes with being a college student. My senior year, however, was the best. In 200, I met the woman I would marry and (it figures!) she was a Gator too. After graduation, I stayed around for a few years, working at my former high school, then I moved down to Southwest Florida where I now live and work: never forgetting where I'm from and who I am: An all-around Gator.