Five Fun Facts About Me…
Taught English in Taiwan
In the summer of 1996, after graduating from Central Washington University, I traveled to Taipei, Taiwan to be with my then girlfriend before eventually returning to pursue my MFA at the UNC-Chapel Hill. While I was visiting, since I was staying for an extended period, I thought it would be fun to occupy my time while my girlfriend and her family worked. So, I was given the opportunity to teach English to pre-school aged children at a private school… I didn’t have much teaching experience, but fortunately they were looking for American English speakers and I fit the qualifications. I had a blast!! My favorite thing was coming into class each morning and being greeted to a chorus of “Good morning Mr David”! Those kids were so darn cute and I loved teaching them, if only for a few months.
Received Masters of Fine Arts
In 2001 I fulfilled a goal of getting my MFA in Acting, while a student at The University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill. My time at UNC was amazing and my experience learning about the art and craft of acting, was truly some of my fondest moments, not to mention the friends made. The more amazing thing to me was how I was able to get accepted into the program. The short story is that over the course of 3 days, I gave probably 30+ separate auditions to 30+ different theatre programs from Florida State to Rutgers to Purdue, and UNC! When all was said and done, I got a lot of rejection letters. I mean, A LOT! The good news is I also received interest from UNC and a couple other programs! I am so glad I chose to invest my talent with the home of the Tar Heels!! Go UNC and go Heels!! The topper was being able to share all this success with my family (Below left to right: Dad, Me, Mom, Brother Roger, Nephew Aidan)
Summited Mount Rainier
Another item on my bucket list was to successfully and safely summit Mt Rainier and in 2010 I was able to accomplish this goal with dear friend, Eric Plantenberg. This was part of Eric’s training in preparation for his eventual summit of Mt Everest! I remember spending months preparing and getting in shape for the trek by hiking nearby mountains with a backpack filled with jugs of water that weighed anywhere from 50-80 pounds depending on the day and the mountain. I ran to improve my lung capacity, lifted weights to strengthen my muscles, stretched to help me stay flexible to the rigors of the hike/climb. Well, even with all that training, it was one of the most physically challenging accomplishments I have had to date. The picture below is of me finally reaching the 14,411 ft summit after barely making it. No way I accomplish this without the help of Eric and the others in our team. Thank you!!
Swam with Great White Sharks
I have had the good fortune to travel to Australia several times and see some amazing sites! Some highlights are climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge, visiting Sydney Opera House, checking out the skyline at the top of Eureka Tower in Melbourne touring the Kuranda Rainforest in Cairns and scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef. But, all of that takes a backseat to my time traveling to the Neptune Islands via Port Lincoln to realize a dream of mine to swim with Great White Sharks! (Technically, I was in a cage and I was more like floating with my scuba outfit.) At this particular adventure we had THREE Great White sharks circling our cage and they got so close we could touch them… We didn’t, but we could have. This was an experience of a lifetime and I would absolutely do it again, even though I got super nauseous on the 3-4 hour trip back. Those sharks were huge!!
Slam dunked on a 10ft rim!
Okay, so this is not the most amazing fun fact, but I am super proud that I was able to accomplish this. The really amazing thing is that I was able to get this photo! Keep in mind, that this was before the digital camera was available. I had only two pictures left before I attempted this photo and was fortunately able to get this photo on the last shot! Phew!!
