After graduating high school in 2005, I got my associate's degree in music performance at McNally Smith College of Music in St. Paul, MN. I pursued a music career for a while, working full time playing drums for ValleyFair! amusement park and Carnival Cruise Lines. At the end of 2008 I made the decision to enlist in the Marine Corps, and in February of 2009 I left for boot camp.  After boot camp and School of Infantry, I was stationed in Twentynine Palms, CA. In that first year of service I married the love of my life, Ashlee Lemmon. We met January 9th, 2009 and were married on December 30th of that same year. While serving with Suicide Charley, 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, I deployed twice: one deployment took me to Afghanistan and the other took me to Japan, the Philippines, Guam, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Near the end of my enlistment I attended a four month vocational course in HVAC/R service and repair. I went on terminal leave in December of 2013, with my End of Active Service date in February 2014. I was a sergeant when I exited active duty. In January 2014 I began pursuing a Mechanical Engineering degree at Iowa State University. I also continued serving in the Marine Corps Reserves, with my first drill weekend in April of that year. I finished my first semester and worked the summer at Crystal Clean washing windows. In the fall of 2014, lots of changes took place. My wife and I became pregnant with our first child and bought a house in Ames. I also switched my major to Software Engineering in November and finished my freshman year in December with a 4.0 GPA. I play drums for the youth ministries at church and spend time with my wife in my free time.