What do you do for a living?
Right now, I’m super lucky to have one of my life passions be what I do for a living: I’m a sergeant in the Army Reserves, and I teach parkour classes at the Santa Cruz Sports Central Gymnastics Gym.
What would you be doing if you weren’t doing that?
Most likely going back to school for another degree, or traveling abroad!
What do you do in your free time?
Either train parkour, go on a hike, explore the caves along the bluffs in the north (Davenport, Bonny Doon, etc.), rock climb, ride my motorcycle along Hwy 9— really just any fun outdoor activity! If it’s raining, though, you’ll most likely find me either in the gymnastics gym working on more advanced parkour techniques, or at home, surfing the net for cool news or Youtube for new parkour videos!
What brought you to Santa Cruz?
Attending UCSC for my undergrad was what brought me to Santa Cruz, but instead of following my college peers and moving away after I graduated, I decided to stay in Santa Cruz because of my traveling experiences. Throughout college, I was blessed with the opportunity to travel all across the U.S. on the military’s dime (for training exercises, conferences, etc). The more places I visited, the more I came to appreciate that Santa Cruz is a uniquely wonderful town—a place with a perpetual “vacation”-like environment (laid back, friendly people wherever you go, great weather) that at the same time has a familial, small-town-supportive feel that is great to come back to after days (or weeks, or even months) of travel.
What’s your favorite street?
As cliche as it may sound, I really love West Cliff Drive. I know a lot of locals tend to avoid the place due to the high volume of commuter/tourist traffic, but I love running, biking, or driving my motorcycle slowly along that gorgeous meandering street, taking in the stunning view of Monterey Bay. Nothing can beat a sunset view from there.
Secret star crush?
Haha, it’s not that secret— I’ve always had a crush on Keira Knightly (the female star from the movie Pirates of the Caribbean). A lot of my friends give me hell for having a crush on her (they think she’s morbidly skinny) but I would still love to meet her someday!
Name a pet peeve.
When somebody drives in the evening with the flip-down glare-reduction mirror things flipped down in their car. I mean, why would you do that? Why would you want to drive a vehicle with a reduced field of vision?! That drives me nuts.
What are you reading?
I actually enjoy perusing [blogger] recommended science-news websites and learning about the cool new going-ons in the scientific community (but as I stated earlier, that really only happens on rainy days—hahaha).
What’s something most people don’t know about you?
That I’m a sergeant in the Army Reserves! If you met me off the street, you would never guess that I am in the military (I try to keep my hair as long as the army will allow, and I have a very relaxed attitude not always conducive to a [stereo]typical army environment).
Recent personal food trend?
Homemade fried rice and quesadillas! They’re both super easy to make at home, and always delicious! (Just for clarity, I don’t eat the two foods at the same time, but rather switch off days having either one or the other, so I never get tired of either food).
