The pathway our lives take is seldom linear and mine was far from it! I grew up in an apartment complex in San Mateo, California. I loved spending my summers at the olympic swimming pool, playing with friends and exploring the creek. In fourth grade I took up the violin. Eighth Grade was a big year for me. I joined the California Youth Symphony, discovered the joy and freedom that cycling brought me, and started studying electronics. These three endeavors stayed with me till I graduated with an A.S. in Electronics and went to work in Palo Alto for Hewlett-Packard. From there I went to Walla Walla University where I studied Electronics Engineering and continued to work for HP as an Associate Engineer. While working as a tutor at WWU I found my love for teaching so I switched majors to mathematics and secondary teaching and never looked back.