I grew up in a town called West Union until I was nine years old. West Union is located in Doddridge County of West Virginia. West Union was built around the oil and gas wells that were built in the early 1900's. However, the town is now showing its age as time has gone by. The county's Court House has four clocks that no longer work. Instead of replacing windows out of old buildings, owners have either boarded them up or bricked over them. Sometimes I look at the town and get upset that such a beautiful and historical town has gone down hill.

A gas boom has just started in the area, so I am hoping the economy will improve. Companies are now drilling extremely deep wells in search of high pressure oil and gas reserves.

At the age of nine, we moved to Bridgeport, West Virginia, which is located 35 miles East of West Union. Then, two years later we moved into another house a mile away because my dad didn't like living on a Dead End street. I did not like living there either because the yard was on a hill and mowing it was a pain.

In Junior High, I joined the Civil Air Patrol squadron #47038. There I learned the basics of flying, winter survival, and leadership.

Then I went onto Bridgeport High where I graduated in 1997. There I played the drums and was in the B.H.S. Drum Line. I was also in the Chemistry club and was on the Track team for a year, but never participated in any events.

I started ground school classes at KCI Aviation located at the Benedum Airport. I flew Cessna 152's. I soloed on Friday the 13th, 1996. I kept on flying and got my Student Pilot license. My flight instructor, A.J. Fash, died from cancer shortly after he got married. I never did achieve "Private Pilot" status like my brother did, but I am planning to achieve that goal sometime soon. The only difference between a Private and a Student Pilot licenses is that with a Private license you can carry passengers.

F.Y.I. A Cessna only has about 103 horsepower. There is probably more power underneath your car's hood then in a Cessna 152. Thus, a Cessna has enough power to get you into trouble, but not out of it.

I started college at Marshall University majoring in Criminal Justice. The next year I changed my major to Accounting with a minor in Criminal Justice and Economics. At Marshall I was extensively involved with a program known as Campus Watch. Campus Watch is an escort program that escorts students to and from classes, dorm rooms, apartments, or their cars. While not doing escorts, we just walked around campus looking for criminal activity. I did not see much action; however, when we did spot something, it was usually something big. Marshall is a safe campus, but if you walk off campus, it is a different world. My first year down there, one block from campus, I was a victim of a jumping and Huntington PD just messed the case up.

I was in the Accounting Club, Gamma Beta Phi (Honors Society), Tae Kwon Do, Lambda Alpha Epsilon (Criminal Justice Association), and participated with the Catholic Newman Center. I received my Scuba license from taking Scuba classes in the Marshall Pool. I later became certified for cavern diving, night diving, and nitrox certified. I never did the party scene, but in retrospect, I wish I had. I also participated in the LAE's shooting team and criminal investigation team. We even went to Indianapolis, Indiana to compete against other colleges from around the nation.

My first year at college was very bizarre. If you CLICK on this hyper-link, you will find out what happened to me.ACCIDENTS AT COLLEGE