I am a 31 year old medical student and ex-high school teacher. I assisted in the development and founding of a high school in New Orleans, Louisiana called "Sci Academy", which has since grown into a successful charter school network that specializes in sending financially disadvantaged and underrepresented minority students to college.  As a 2005 Teach for America corps member in New Orleans, my home was flooded so teaching was delayed. In the wake of Katrina I was asked to manage a disaster recovery center for FEMA. From that experience I learned about the importance of cultural competency in data acquisition, warehousing, and analysis. Other life experiences include travel to Europe, India, Asia, the Middle East, and South America. Much of this travel is centered around mountaineering, which is my favorite sport and hobby. My most significant peak thus far is probably Denali in Alaska. I am a dual citizen of the United States and Canada and I've lived in 7 states, but my 'home' is New Orleans and that will probably never change, wherever I end up living.