Q: What over the years led you to want to teach history and become so engulfed in history as a subject?

A: I had a history teacher at my high school named Mr. Knight who really put the passion into me. When I started studying it and looking at how history changes and all the interpretations of history, it’s really cool to see the differences.

Q: Over the years what is one of the craziest things you’ve ever done that your students may not have expected you to ever do?

A: Oh, so many things. When I was a freshman at Virginia Tech they didn’t have the lottery system for free tickets yet. If you wanted free tickets to a game you waited all night. Miami was ranked #3 that year and they were playing them at Virginia Tech so I waited in freezing temperatures all night to get free tickets. I did end up getting two free tickets and I enjoyed the game very much.

Q: When you were growing up what sports or hobbies did you partake in?

A: I played several instruments. I played the Piano and the Banjo. I also worked a lot. I had jobs at Bailey’s Pharmacy as a soda jerk making the sodas while also working the cash register. I worked as a mechanic in the summertime. Lastly, I shredded paper in the evenings at a bank.

Q: How do you like taking on psychology this year as a new class?

A: I’m really excited about it just because the curriculum itself has changed with the new AP standards. I’m able to go back through and look at my stuff and modernize it and change it to create new experiments and stuff. I got a really cool crew this year that I am super excited about.

Q: You get one last meal, what are you eating?

A: Fried pork chops, collard greens with vinegar, mashed potatoes, and sweet tea.

Q: If you could spend the day with anyone throughout history would it be and why?

A: Lyndon Johnson because he is so misunderstood. People look at Lyndon Johnson as the guy who escalated Vietnam but he’s also the guy who took on the war on poverty. In his own conflicted sense he was trying to do what was best and now we know those decisions may not have been the best ones.

Q: What is a secret passion that not many people know you do?

A: When I have time, which is rare, I restore cars on the side.

Q: Where did you grow up and where have you lived over your life?

A: I was born in Clover, Virginia which is located on the North Carolina/Virginia border. Then I also lived in Halifax County for the first few months of my life. I grew up and lived most of my life in Louisa County which is the midpoint between Charlottesville and Richmond. I have lived in Virginia my entire life.

Q: What is your favorite history movie of all time?

A: American Graffiti. It’s about four teens growing up in 1962 that have one last night before they go off to college and it details their stories. The movie is so emblematic of the era, of that early 60’s with the cynicism before the assasination of Kennedy and the sinisterism that prevailed throughout the era.