Education

Rice University

I attended Ingram Tom Moore High School in Ingram, Texas, a small town in central Texas, near Austin, with two stoplights and less than 1,500 people. I was a large kid and did well in football. As I neared graduation, circa 1995, numerous universities began recruiting me to play for them.¹

I accepted a scholarship to Rice University in Houston, Texas. At Rice, I was able to play Division I football while also getting a fantastic education. Rice was the only Division I school I found that had a true commitment to being a scholar athlete.

While at Rice, I majored in Biochemistry and graduated with a BA in 2000. During that time I also played four years of football as a defensive lineman, starting as a true freshman. Meanwhile, I taught myself to play the piano, cultivating a love of music that was to last for several decades, and also studied Spanish, literature, and music theory. Rice University provided a strong technical education while also allowing me to indulge my passion for learning a wide variety of subjects.

Fulbright to Barcelona, Spain

Upon graduation, Rice nominated me as a Rhodes Scholar (which I didn’t win), and I was awarded a Fulbright to conduct biomedical research at the University of Barcelona in Barcelona, Spain. I was also accepted into Baylor College of Medicine’s MD / PhD program. This is a program designed to prepare researchers for biomedical research. It is a long road that requires the students to complete both an MD and a biomedical PhD.

Medical School and Computer Science Studies at Rice

Upon returning from Spain, I was beginning to have doubts about medical school. However, I attended the first two years of medical school. I ultimately withdrew in good standing. I had decided that I did not want to pursue a career in medicine or research.

For a year and a half, I returned to Rice and studied computer science. When I began my studies at Rice, I had deliberated between studying computer science and biology. I chose biology, but here I had a chance to pursue the path not taken. I took foundational classes in object-oriented programming and computer architecture, as well as more advanced classes in artificial intelligence.

In 2003, the Iraq war began. Being in Houston, this opened up an opportunity to work in Iraq and save money. I left for Iraq to work as a Morale Welfare and Recreation manager. I worked as a supervisor, setting up weight rooms, recreation centers, and internet cafes for the soldiers in Iraq. This involved not only ordering all of the necessary materials but also supervising the staff of multiple 24-hour facilities located in a war zone — a unique set of challenges, to say the least.

Several years passed until the next step in my education journey. I returned from Iraq and moved to Austin, Texas, where I lived for seven years. During this time I did not engage in formal education, but I learned to write by writing two novels. I also wrote several software programs that I used in my writing and music projects. I wrote a custom word processor that I used to write my novels. I wrote a program that intelligently organized my digital music files for my deejaying. Later, while working at the University of Texas, I learned the standards and norms of professional software development from skilled mentors.

While in Austin, I taught myself enough about music production that I was able to work as a sound engineer for several years. I also produced several pieces of music that were used in independent films and commercials.

Later, I moved to Boulder, Colorado, and finally to Alaska. During this time, I learned to sea kayak, learned to tune pianos, took piano lessons, wrote electronic music, and tried to capture my love of the mountains through photography, while also continuing improve my skills as a developer.

Buddhist Studies, Chaplaincy, and Tibetan Language

In 2018, I moved to Portland, Oregon, to enroll in Maitripa College. At Maitripa I studied Buddhist philosophy, meditation, and language. I also studied to be a Buddhist chaplain, learning a lot of listening and emotional skills aimed at helping people in crisis or during the dying process. I graduated with an MA in Buddhist Philosophy.

Upon graduation from Maitripa, I wanted to continue studying Buddhism and Tibetan language, so I moved to India where I enrolled in the Lotsawa Rinchen Zangpo Translation Program. The program is a two-year intensive spoken Tibetan language program.