I have two main groups of friends: my robotics friends and my karate friends. See the About Me page for more information about both robotics and karate.
My robotics friends are the ones that I like to call my nerdy friends. They are the ones that I can be my nerdy self with and have them not look at me like I’m crazy. We all work under high stress at robotics. We all have seen each other at our worst when we’re scrambling for tools or parts, and we’re yelling at everyone trying to fix something when we were due on the field two minutes ago. We don't always agree about how the robot should be built, and we can sometimes be short with each other when it comes down to the wire. However, we're always okay because there is an underlying respect and understanding that everyone is there because they like robotics and they want to see the team do well.
As close as I am with my robotics friends, I am much closer with my friends at karate, which is somewhat unavoidable. When you’ve trained with the same people for six years, you’ve practiced techniques on each other hundreds of times, you’ve sparred, hit, grappled with them and had your face two inches away from theirs, you can’t help but develop a lot of trust and a really close bond. Every one of them has different interests outside of karate. Some are performers, some are singers, some are musicians, some are athletes, and... some are nerds. We would probably never even talk to each other if we didn’t train together, yet I consider all of them to be my closest friends.
My immediate family is fairly small. It consists of my mother Amy, my dad Mike, and my sister Riley. My mom was a buyer for Lord and Taylor and Filene’s until she decided to stay home with me and my sister when I was born. When I was in 6th grade, she went to work as a school secretary at the Hunnewell School in Wellesley. My dad is CFO of Blount Fine Foods. Blount makes all of the Legal Sea Foods and Panera soups that are sold in retail stores such as Target and BJ’s. Finally, my sister is a freshman at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She is studying political science and international relations.
My family and I enjoy traveling. See the travels page for a more in-depth look at some of our longer trips. However, we also like to take weekend trips. One such trip was to the White Mountains of New Hampshire where we went ziplining. A picture from that trip is featured on my homepage.
My extended family is smaller on one side and larger on the other. My mother’s side is the smaller side of the family. I have a grandmother and aunt on my mother’s side. Thats it.
My father’s side is a bit larger. All of my dad’s side of the family lives in Alabama. My grandmother and grandfather live in a suburb of of Birmingham called Vestavia Hills, which is not unlike Natick. My dad's brother, my uncle, lives in the neighboring town of Homewood with his wife, three kids, and two dogs. My dad's sister, my aunt, also lives in Homewood with her husband and her four kids. Twelve people in all, not counting the dogs.