I grew up in a rural community in Minnesota on a farm raising cows, pigs and chickens and repair old outdated farming equipment.  My favorite animal was pigs because of their intelligence. In high school I worked about 30 hrs per week after school and on weekends at a snack food manufacturing facility.  After realizing that I did not want to be a farmer or work the rest of my life at a snack food company, I decided to go to college and study biology.  I decided on biology because from my farm days I always had an interest in figuring out how things worked whether that was a tractor or a living cell.   Graduating with a biology degree I wasn’t sure what was next, however a buddy of mine was going to look at medical and graduate school at a University an hour of so away.  I went along and started talking to graduate students and faculty in the department of Microbiology and Immunology and learned that they would pay to go to graduate school.  That sound interesting so I applied and got accepted into the department.  I finished my Masters and because of life, I needed to find a job paying more money to support new unplanned family.  I got a job as a lab tech and have since enjoying developing my skills and helping the team I work with succeed.  In my free time I enjoy staying fit by going to the gym, playing tennis or any game for that matter. I also enjoy bow hunting  and just being outside.