Self-Rexamination
I'm originally from Latham, New York (near Albany), and currently live in Pittsburgh, PA.
I've been an engineer at heart ever since preschool, when a translucent wind-up toy train entranced me with it's gearful glory. At that time I also colored all of my pictures using only black crayons. It's unclear whether my artistic sense has improved, but my predilection for engineering has remained unchanged. The act of transforming a design from a mere ephemeral thought to a physical, finished product is just immensely, innately satisfying to me. I found an interest in philosophy as those with teenaged angst are wont to do: through existentialism. But I soon found myself drawn inexorably into the holographic fractal vortex that is philosophy of mind, and once inside, decided that the only way forward was to dive deeper. And so at Princeton University I built myself cerebral scuba gear with mechanical engineering, filled it with neuroscience and went in head first. In neural engineering I found the perfect confluence of all of my interests, and joined an incredible group of like-minded (mind-liked?) thinkers at the University of Pittsburgh and the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition. Another highly plausible account of how I got here is that I saw The Matrix when I was 11 and am still just riding that high... Singing has always been a huge part of my life, from community choirs and high school musicals to touring the world with the Princeton Tigertones to performing with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra as a member of the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh. I ride my bike everywhere, and rock climb, play soccer and see music whenever I can. Along the way I've met countless amazing and inspiring people, and I cherish my fantastically fabulous friends above all else! |