Baltimoremick.com

Aaron has tagged me (thanks, you magnificent bastard), and ’tis the season for me to be in a giving mood. I will give into the hive mentality of the Internets.
Five Things You Didn’t Know About Me Until Now:

1. I studied abroad at St. Anne’s College at the University of Oxford.
   I spent the fall semester of my senior year at Boston University at St. Anne’s College in Oxford, England, participating in what was then known as the Modern British Studies Program (it is now known as the Oxford Honors Studies Program).
2. Although I have worked in the IT field for the last 8 years, I hold no formal degree in any technical field.
   I hold no degree in any engineering discipline nor in computer science. My bachelor’s degree is in International Relations, and I hold a Master’s in Public Management from the University of Maryland School of Public Policy, with a specialization in International Security and Economic Policy. I started working for the School when I was a graduate student, and my career snowballed into what it is now. Originally, I had intended to go to graduate school and then work for the Central Intelligence Agency. After some time, I would get my doctorate and get into teaching.
3. I once tipped the scales near 300 pounds.
   In college and grad school, I was never the athletic sort, eschewing most sports. I made fun of my roommates when they went to workout. When we played football–organized or not–I was the guy who was the center because I was the biggest guy my friends knew. When I started my last position at Maryland in the Fall of 2000, I decided that I was a fat bastard. I changed my diet, and I began to workout at the University Rec Center as it was incredibly cheap to join as a staff member. I would spend about 2 hours at the gym during my peak period, spending about an hour in cardio and around 30-40 minutes in the weight room. I dropped about 80 pounds, and I had gotten my weight down to 215 after about 2 years. I have stabilized around 220 these days, but I still try to maintain the regimen.
4. I was into Dungeons & Dragons when I was a kid.
   I started playing D&D back in the early 80s, when it was all the rage. When I was I younger, I had a bunch of friends who were older than me and were into the game. I had all of the various rule books for both D&D and Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, and I was playing until my sophomore year at Poly. I had all the stuff: all the dice, miniatures, and read all sorts of books. Hell, I was even in the Fantasy and Gaming Club at Poly. I was definitely a hard-core nerd back in the day.
5. I was on Poly’s Mock Trial team when I was in high school.
   When I began my journey to go to college, I had intended to go to law school after graduation. I was a pretty good debater in high school, and I enjoyed a good argument. My mother had worked for a big law firm in downtown Baltimore, and I decided it would be a good idea to participate in the school’s Mock Trial team. The Mock Trial team would argue a fictional court case before a real city judge. After many after-hours sessions and practice sessions with our lawyer advisers, we had our first mock trial against Gilman. The mock trial was a sexual harassment suit, and our team was assigned to be the defendant. I had the luck to play the alleged sexual harasser, and I actually did quite well under cross-examination. In the first round, we won against Gilman, whose team included Ron Shapiro’s son. We lost in the second round to Western, though, in what was a close match.
6. Bonus Fact: I was an alternate for our high school It’s Academic team.
   I was an alternate for Poly’s It’s Academic team my senior year.
7. Bonus Fact 2: I was in student government in my last two years at BU.
   It’s frighteningly true, and there is a photo from the school newspaper to prove it.

There you have it. Some facts that most folks who read my blatherings never knew about me. Now, I get to pass this along like it’s the Anthrax. So, if they will do me the favor and spice up what is an otherwise bland day, I choose Johnny Dollar, Common Wombat (since he does not post enough), Chairthrower (since it has been a while), and Charissa (since she is a sucker for these sorts of things).