I grew up on a farm in a small community in Michigan with my church was partially built on land our family had donated years before I was born. I also attend school there with only one other classmate until high school. While I was very interested in being a pastor, I felt strongly called towards something else. I liked math and science so went to Western Michigan University for engineering...at this point I learned there was different kinds of engineers. I picked mechanical because it sounded generic with the goal of graduating as fast as possible and then getting a job. My junior year I was introduced to research and knew this was what I wanted to do for my career. So after graduation I transferred to the University of Michigan to get more exposure to research opportunities. During my MS I struggled and really thought I was not cutout for this work. I prayed frequently asking for direction from God because I was pretty sure I had made a misstep going to grad school. While on a run praying about this I got one of the clearest answers to prayer in my life and the answer was to become a professor! This seemed insane because I knew that meant getting a PhD...something that seemed impossible at that moment. In spite of my belief that I was not good enough for a PhD, I started pursuing one. To my surprise, getting a PhD was so much easier to me than getting a MS. The open ended work and the pursuing of questions that currently didn't have answers is exactly what I love...it was almost like I was designed to do this kind of work. Shortly after graduating with my PhD, I married my wife and we moved to Penn State as a research associate. I worked there for 3 years before accepting an assistant professor position at Oklahoma State University. Since moving here we have found a great community of believers, have had 2 children, and continue to grow in our faith. I am thankful for the direction I was given because I know I would never had considered the career path I took if it wasn't for God's direction .