My Pursuit of becoming an Actor

 I began acting in plays as a child in Philomath, Oregon. I knew from the get-go that acting was going to be my life, so I started training in Martial arts. I studied Taekwondo, Aikido, Judo, and Jiu Jitsu. After high school I joined the Military in July 2001 to get a scholarship. After I joined, the two towers fell (9/11). Life changed at that point. I learned a huge amount about life (and death) while in. I studied Krav Maga and Pin Jat Silat while in Europe.  I was deployed twice. Once in Iraq, and once in Afghanistan. My first duty station was in Ray Barracks, Friedberg, Germany. 

I was a Tanker in the US Army. In 2003 I was deployed to Iraq for 15 months. I got out after 4 years, and moved back to Oregon in 2005. 

 I started going to college to become an actor, and started studying martial arts again. My college plans fell through at that point due to unforeseen circumstances. So I started working at a furniture store to make ends meet. While working at the furniture store, I decided I would join the police force. I became an Oregon State Trooper, which fell through because of budget cuts the mayor put in place. At that point, I decided to re-join the military in 2009 and start working on computers. 

 I got stationed in Ft. Carson and I was sent to the Defense Language Institute to learn to read, write, and speak Dari, which is a dialect of Farsi used in Northern Afghanistan. I was deployed in 2011 to Afghanistan. While deployed, instead of sending me to the northern part of Afghanistan, the military in all its glory, sent me to southern Afghanistan. Where they speak Pashtu. A completely different language. So instead of being the companies interpreter, I got tasked as the companies Supply Sergeant. I knew nothing about running a supply room, and I was given about 3 weeks to learn. I learned very quickly the ins and outs of Supply. I was in charge of supplying my soldiers with their personal gear, and computer equipment, who were spread out to 5 different Forward Operating Bases, or FOB's. So I would fly out to them monthly to make sure they had all the equipment they needed, and do an inventory of all equipment the had. Sometimes it would be in a Helicopter, sometimes it would be a road convoy. I was in charge of over 8 million dollars worth of equipment. 

 After I got back from Afghanistan, I got attacked by a soldier in my house at 2am in the morning. He broke into my house and tried to kill me and my family. 

 The attack changed who I was, and I went into a dark place for a long time. All my martial arts training and military experience going through combat situations, none of it prepared me for the attack. I almost died that day. A part of me did. I developed a dark spot in my soul. I got out of the military in 2013, and I became very reclusive. I was paranoid of anybody coming over to my house, I had a hard time meeting new people. I had to put up a front, a fake persona for people to see so I didn't look so pathetic. I felt like I was in a downward spiral, and I didn't know how to get out of it. 

 I had to find a way to get back to who I used to be. I did some soul searching , and decided I would start acting again. So I moved to Los Angeles, and just started acting in whatever I could find.

 I was on my first set in August of 2018, and realized this is what I have been missing all my life. I had prepared myself, and trained. I got lost along the way for a while, but finally being on my true path, I decided I needed real training in the finer parts of acting, so I joined New York Film Academy. I was able to learn a lot about stuff I thought I already knew, but turns out I had so much still to learn. This journey, this life, is what brought me back from the darkness I got lost in. I am back, and finally excited about the future!