What a tangled web

I was born in Mankato, Minnesota on the morning of July 24, 1985. I lived in Minnesota until I was but a wee lad of four years, when my family moved to Crystal Lake, Illinois, where I have lived ever since.

My wonderful family consists of my faith-filled brother Josh, my musically adept twin brother Matt, my unique-but-in-a-lovable-way sister Ellen, my super-energetic step-sister Karlyn, my super-adorable half-sister Maura, my visionary mother Maria, my goofy father Tom, and my just-as-goofy-as-my-dad-if-not-more-so step-mother Kellyanne. Soon to join my immediate family is my beautiful bride-to-be Holly.

Academia calls

In the spring of 2003, I graduated from Crystal Lake South High School. Since then, I've been attending the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where I am studying Computer Science and Physics. I am currently in my third year at UIUC and I intend on graduating in the spring of 2007 with a BS in Computer Science as well as a BS in Engineering Physics. For more information on my education, see my resume.

Somewhere in between the chaos

In my free time I like to enjoy the finer things in life, including (but not limited to) chillaxin' with my homies, tooling around with computer programming and web development, cooking exquisite meals with my roommates, and, of course, basking in the splendor that is music.

I am a member of the Alpha Xi chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America, Inc. This semester I am serving as Service Committee Chair and Chaplain. Sinfonia is a social fraternity for men interested in music. We believe in using the positive power of music for the uplift of mankind. For questions about joining the Alpha Xi chapter, contact our president.

I am also getting more involved with Illini Life, a student Christian church on campus. Contact Illini Life for more information on the organization.

Perhaps the biggest passion in my life is one for music. I started out playing trumpet when I was 10 years old. I continued with trumpet throughout middle school and high school, during which time I also started to sing in school choirs. After my junior year of high school, I started to pick up drumset when a few of my friends and I started playing together as a band, which developed into 51 Stones. Since then, drumset has become my primary instrument (though I still play trumpet at least a few times a week). Currently I'm doing a lot of practicing on drumset and trumpet, and I get to sing occasionally with my fraternity brothers. Music has always been a huge influence in my life, and it surely will be for the rest of my life.