CURRENT MISSION Figuring out how the brain learns language by staring at a computer, and scavenging time for photography and home remodeling. ABOUT ME I am three things: the son of deaf parents, a former Marine, and a graduate student in psychology. Growing up I lived in a bilingual-bicultural house (Deaf culture and American) and didn't know it. For most of my life I saw my parents' deafness as an appendix to their American culture, and saw my ability to sign and mediate between them and the hearing world as the same. The rich experiences (both positive and negative) were very private because I didn't fully understand them. While I aspired to go to a good college after high school like my friends, after under-performing on admissions tests, I got cold feet and decided to join the Marines. I signed up for a linguist program (passed the Marine tests) and a five year contract. In the Marines, I saw tons of different people, and realized much of my existential struggles were similar across my peers, and of course I gained a lot of self-confidence. I still aspired to go to college, and over the years worked toward defining my goals. The Marines trained me in two languages: Arabic and Pashto. By the end of five years, I had applied for psychology programs and knew I wanted to be a psychologist. A month after separating from the Corps, I began school. Now, two years later, I'm entering my senior year, and eager to apply for grad programs for clinical psychology. PHILOSOPHY Life is about building meaning for others. I've spent most of mine so far trying to build it for myself, only to find that a never-ending quest. However, along the way I've cherished being able to help others find meaning. The big questions are big questions for a reason: they can't be easily answered. Community seems to be the closest thing to an answer for these questions.