I grew up tromping around the Rocky Mountains. I graduated high school from a small Montana town. Immediately, I began working on industrial construction projects across Montana and Wyoming as an electrical apprentice, though that seemed to be a glorified term for wire-puller--no easy feat when it's a 245kV cable around 8 pounds per foot, and this scrawny body was only 22 pounds per foot.

After three years of chasing jobs and living out of cheap motels, I moved on to the oil field. My position as a crane rigger for an oil rig logistics service had me home nearly every night. I decided that after 23 years of experiencing brutal winters in one of the coldest parts of the country, I'd give the Texas heat a try, so I transferred field offices to North Texas.

Within two years, the North Texas office closed down and I found myself working in a third-party logistics warehouse and repair center on mobile electronics, mostly as a material handler, but when we were in a crunch period, I'd repair handsets and GPS devices.

From 2008 to 2014, I'd unload trucks during the day and attend community college at night. Along the way, I made a reputable name for myself and earned a comfortable promotion, found my better half, and decided to take the leap and attend the University of North Texas as a full-time student in pursuit of a BBA in Decision Sciences. Upon applying to UNT, I was nominated and selected base as a recipient for the prestigious Terry Foundation scholarship, which guarantees transfer students like myself enough funding for three years to graduate nearly debt free.