My Background

It all started when I was sixteen years old with a plan to become a doctor or a lawyer or who knows what. I took a class at the Columbia Area Career Center called Multimedia Design when I was a junior in high school and I fell in love with Digital Media. All of a sudden I could sit in front of a computer for hours creating anything and everything with a computer. My first website came when my mom volunteered me (thanks mom) to make a website for the Bruin Booster Club. I delivered a terribly designed and minimally functional website and from that first attempt, I was hooked. I loved the challenge of thinking outside the box and coding in HTML.

Since creating that first website in 2001 I have freelanced extensively in the web design industry. I have worked with a variety of clients, ranging from individuals to small business to large corporations. All along the way my knowledge of all things code has grown exponentially. I’ve coded in a variety of languages, including HTML, CSS, PHP, JavaScript, jQuery, and MySQL. I have an extensive background in the three main facets of website development: design, coding, and databases. A great website depends on deep knowledge of these three areas, and my experience in all three sets me apart from other developers and designers.

Teaching and Coaching

I have been teaching at the Columbia Area Career Center for eight years. My teaching style is a little bit different than most teachers as I try to infuse excitement into the class through my crazy antics and real world projects. Someone walking by my classroom might hear yelling and chair throwing, anything to get my students pumped up about the curriculum. More than anything, I view a teacher’s main obstacle to overcome in the classroom is lack of student motivation. I want my students to walk away with tools, products, and skills they can use to serve future clients of theirs.

Coaching high school sports is one of the most fulfilling things in my life. I’ve been an assistant cross country coach for 7 seasons and an assistant track coach for 9 seasons. I coach the pole vault, long jump, and triple jump in track. Coaching has a special place in my heart. I find that the athletic fields is where I can connect in the most real way to my student athletes.

Teaching and coaching gives me skills that not every web developer has. Teaching gives me the innate ability to motivate people that I work with and it forces me to keep up on current industry trends and software. Coaching forces me how to communicate a message effectively and clearly. I break down complex tasks into simple commands that all of my athletes can follow. Coaching forces me to work with a plethora of different types of kids. Like clients these kids all have different needs and I’m forced to read body language and to get them to achieve certain goals.