- Department: Geography/Envirn Studies
- University: Texas State University
- Location: Texas
I left a Southern Baptist high school knowing a lot of facts, but knowing very little about life. I began college as a geography major because I wanted to be a broadcast meteorologist. I wanted to leave UMBC every chance I got for two years. During my fall semester of my junior year, my father died. He was diagnosed with a fast-growing cancerous brain tumor and he died within ten weeks. All of the sudden, things I thought were important, weren't. My mom began working more hours, and I got a job at a plant nursery. My focus in life began to change from myself to others and I began working hard in school with a goal of being a geography professor. I felt this was my calling because I could share my love of God's creation with students in a somewhat non-traditional way. I finished my last two years with a 4.0 GPA and earned a full scholarship to attend the University of Southern California as a masters student. I spent two years in Los Angeles at Southern Cal, met a wonderful person who I later married, and then went onto pursue a doctoral degree at Arizona State University. I am now married, have three wonderful pets, and have my job as a geography professor here at Texas State University. I spend some of my free time volunteering with Moses, my German Shorthaired Pointer, visiting people in nursing homes and working with children with slower development rates because he and I are certified pet partners. While I cannot describe my Christian faith in detail in the classroom, I try to encourage students to think broadly, unselfishly, and live in a compassionate way. If I am successful in this venture, they end up being more Christ-like which is an important step in the faith journey.
Favorite Quote
"Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity." Martin Luther King, 1963
Friends describe me
funny, sarcastic, a good listener
My hobbies
sports, gardening, bicycling, motorcycling
Fantasy dinner guests
Kelly Ripa and Reese Witherspoon
Best advice I ever received
If you want to go fast, go alone; If you want to go far, go together.
My undergrad alma mater
Maryland Baltimore County
My worst subject in school
geometry
In college I drove
Ford
If I weren't a professor, I would
run a vertically integrated, organic beef company
Favorite books
Bowling Alone, Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time
Favorite movies
The Apostle, The Straight Story, Places in the Heart
Favorite city
Memphis
Favorite coffee
none
Nobody knows I
was recruited to join the CIA-- I declined.
My latest accomplishment
Re-landscaping our back yard