About Me

I was born on March 10, 1987 in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Shortly after my brother was born in 1989, my family moved to Puebla, Puebla, Mexico, where we moved in to my mother's old house. We took frequent trips to Guadalajara to visit my aunt Norma and my grandparents. In August of 1995, my dad moved to the United States in search of a better life. He settled down in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and got a job as a medical researcher at the University of Pittsburgh. In September of 1996, my mother, my brother and I moved to the U.S. and joined our dad in Pittsburgh. We've lived in the small community of Blawnox, on the north bank of the Allegheny River about 12 miles from downtown Pittsburgh.

As immigrants, the first few years in the United States were a pain. Thankfully, my dad was able to get a good job, despite having limited options. Until our Permanent Residency application went through (which took FIVE years), we were not allowed to leave the States, with the exception of trips to Mexico, since we were, and still are, citizens of Mexico. The first few years in school were difficult since my English vocabulary was extremely limited at the time. As a result, I had to be pushed back from fourth to third grade and spent the entire time taking English classes. It was for the better, though. My brother had it a little easier, since he came into this country in the second grade.

As permanent residents, life is much easier. My dad now works for Conco Systems, Inc. as a sales representative in Latin American and, as of a few months ago, the Middle East as well. The travel restrictions no longer apply, so we can basically take a trip to anywhere in the world...if funds permit. My brother and I were both able to get our driver's licenses, apply for jobs, and apply to colleges as residents of the United States (which is a good thing considering how monsterous tuition is for international students).

Education

My education began at Ypsilanti, a private school in Puebla, which I had a love/hate relationship with. I had good classmates and many friends there, but the method of education wasn't necessarily the best. On top of that, I really hated the school plays...which I had to take a role in EVERY SINGLE YEAR! There were some good things, don't get me wrong. The playground behind the school was big, so recess was a great time (to an elementary student, it was the best time of the day), we had a great view of the Popocatépetl volcano (this was also the time when I had developed an obsession with volcanoes), and in the third grade we had a pet tarantula which someone had found in the playground. I still remember the chaos it caused when we came in one morning and discovered that it had somehow escaped. The fact that I had watched the film Arachnophobia a few days earlier didn't help...

After we moved to the United States in 1996, I attended O'Hara Elementary School, just up the hill from Blawnox. After that it was Dorseyville Middle School, and then Fox Chapel Area High School (just down the road from O'Hara). At Fox Chapel, I joined the Technology Student Association (TSA), the Fox Chapel Racing Team, and the school band (which I left after my freshman year) playing the alto saxophone. During my sophomore year, I attended the TSA State Conference in Seven Springs, Pennsylvania and the National Conference in Nashville, Tennessee. I earned second place in Transportation Modeling and Manufacturing Prototype as well as third place in Structural Engineering at the State Conference and I was a finalist in Manufacturing Prototype at the National Conference. At the end of my sophomore year I joined the National Honor Society.

I graduated from Fox Chapel in June of 2006 and began to study at the University of Pittsburgh main campus that same year, majoring in the field of Computer Science. However, things did not go too smoothly and began to think that perhaps CS was not for me. I've changed majors and I'm now majoring in the field of Information Science.

Work Experience

My first job was as an teacher assistant for the 5th grade Sunday Morning Religious School at Rodef Shalom Congregation, a synagogue on 5th Avenue and Morewood Avenue near Central Catholic High School and not far from the University of Pittsburgh. I worked from September 2004 until May 2006. In November of 2005, I was offered a part-time position as a front desk receptionist at Rodef Shalom along with the teacher assitant position. I worked the evening shift at the front desk a few times a week. I was in charge of setting up conference rooms for meetings as well as locking up the building for the night. After May of 2006, I started working the Sunday shift along with the weekday evening shifts at Rodef until August of the same year.

In the summer of 2007, I got a job as a ride operator at Kennywood Park, where I joined the 506 crew which, at the time, operated the Skycoaster, the Racer, and the Paddle Boats (often referred to simply as the Skycoaster crew). Since I started working at Kennywood, the paddle boats have been given to the Jack Rabbit crew, so I now operate just the Skycoaster and the Racer, and team members have come and gone. Now I'm a site controller at the Skycoaster, which means I get to bark orders when needed and help the managers train new people, but it also means I CANNOT leave the Skycoaster premises until another site controller is present.

Working at Rodef and Kennywood - especially at Kennywood - has tested my patience since, let's face it, some people are not the sharpest tool in the shed. Both places have helped me to manage my anger a little better (yes, I am short tempered), although I still have some occasional outbursts. Extraing at Kiddieland was interesting, because the thing about Kiddieland is that it's not the kids that drive you crazy, it's the parents! I've discovered that they actually try to tell us how to do things as if they know better (trust me, they don't know a thing). Some of the more agitating moments happen at the Racer. They height restriction for the Racer is 46 inches. However, we are right next door to the Jack Rabbit, which has a height restriction of 38 inches. Almost every hour we have to tell someone that their child is not tall enough to ride. Sometimes they are understanding, and sometimes they are not and it's these folks who really test your patience. What drives me insane is that there is a height stick along with a whacking great sign at the entrance telling people what the restrictions are. Simply put, my patience is tested on a daily basis.

I know I spent the last paragraph pretty much ranting about Kennywood, but the truth is I actually like working there. I made great friends, I can get into the park for free, I can get discount tickets for family and friends, the pay is not bad, and the food is good.

Interests