COLLIN
WHO I AM
I'm a 26 year old red-neck who was born and raised in southwest Oklahoma.
I stand about 5'9", 165lbs, brown hair, blue eyes, and generally a
pretty likeable personality.
click here for a few pics I took with my video capture card on 2/14/98 while chatting with some friends
EDUCATION
I graduated from Canton High School, Canton, OK in 1990. After high
school, I decided on attending college at the United States Coast Guard
Academy, care of all of the tax dollars you and I pay. I graduated after
four painful, unhappy years with a B.S. in Naval Architecture and Marine
Engineering and a commision as an ensign (O-1). The education was the best
there is, but the way most of the people are treated there is less than
desireable. Now, I'm reading that it has turned to quite the touchy feely leadership style environment. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone that thinks a service academy
is the place for true militism, especially with all of the recent changes.
WHAT I DO TO FEED THE FAMILY
Previous Assignment
After graduation, I received orders to CGC STEADFAST (WMEC-623) homeported
in the lovely Astoria, OR. I really enjoy it there even though it rained
all the time. I was the Damage Control Assistant aboard the ship. That's
was theofficial title. It was more like administrative assistant to the
Engineering Officer. For about a year and a half, my job was more or less
that of a very overpaid secretary (no offense intended to secretaries.)
As much "fun" as it was, all things must come to an end.
For the better part of the time that I was stationed aboard, this is
the way it spent much of that time. In less than one year's time, this
vessel went to five unscheduled drydockings! Oh, the joy!
WHERE I AM NOW
Since July 1, 1996, I have been a staff engineer at the USCG Marine Safety
Center. I am currently in the Major Vessel Branch of the Hull Division.
It's been a very interesting job. I'm finally getting to do the things I like;
i.e Naval Architecture. surprisingly, being in the Washington, D.C. area hasn't been nearly as bad as I thought it would be (other than the traffic that is). You have all the amenities of a large city (and most of the museums/attractions are free) yet all you have to do is drive 30 miles west and you are in farmland city. Go a little farther west and you find some of the best motorcycling roads east of the Mississippi.
FUTURE PLANS
After much personal debate on whether it would be a good choice or not, I applied for the Coast Guard's graduate training program and was accepted. Starting in June, 1999, I will be attending the University of Michigan full time to persue my Masters of Science in Engineering in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering. While there, I also plan to persue wither a Mechanical Engineering degree or an Aerospace Engineering degree as well.
WHAT I LIKE TO DO
I'm a very active person, so there are a lot of things I like to do.
Spending quality time with my wife and year old son makes up the most of my existance. Everthing
else falls somewhere behind that. At the top of that list, however, is
riding and racing motorcycles and playing golf. Now that I'm not underway for "180
days per year (yeah right, more like 195-200), and definitely a lot less
rain in Virginia, I doubled the mileage on my motorcycle in only three
months and after the first year here, I added over 14k miles to it. I used to race dirt bikes (125 and 250) but gave that up when I got "too old" and before breaking any major body parts. This past year, I regretfully sold off my 1993 Suzuki GSXR-750WP so that I could afford to buy a 1997 GSXR750 to go racing on. I also like to read anything from Sci-Fi (R. Heinlein) to Shakespeare. My musical interests are similar, classical to metal with a strong preference to country (imagine that). Did I mention that I also play the flute half decent and the saxophone
somewhat? After a few years working on me, my wife finally talked me into getting into herpetoculture. Growing up in OK, I had quite the fear of snakes since most are venomous
there. The only other herp I dealt with was the occasional horny toad that
I caught or a brief stint raising Anoles when I lived in Houston, TX.
