“Just as we shape the Mandalorian steel, we shape ourselves. We all begin as raw ore. We refine ourselves through trials and adversity.”

—  The Armorer, The Mandalorian

These last almost twenty years have been something else. The first thing that’s immediately obvious is the lack of the “pork chop” sideburns. Yeah, in the interest of having a somewhat professional appearance in the real world, I got rid of them. 

So what have I done with my life? Not long after I graduated high school, I moved with my family up to Massachusetts. It was there that I finished my bachelor’s degree in accounting from UMass Lowell, graduating with the class of 2011. I’m still a tiny bit bitter that the commencement speaker for the next year’s class was Bill Nye, while my class got a guy that donated a bunch of money to put his name on the business school. But I digress, that’s a story for another time. 

Since then, I’ve gotten married to Amber, the love of my life. It’s been a fantastic almost nine years that we’ve been married, and I wouldn’t change it for the world. She’s been wonderful, supportive, everything I could ever ask for. She’s even indulged my Star Wars hobby. More on that later. 

Professionally, I spent some time working in the accounting department of a large real estate investment firm and I spent some time working for small bookkeeping/accounting firms. I’ve been working for a water boiler manufacturer for almost five years, and this has been my favorite place to work so far. I started out in Accounts Payable, cutting checks and paying vendors. I got promoted a year ago to Senior Credit Analyst, analyzing creditworthiness of customers, collecting money, and the like. 

I’ve also got a fun little side hustle: I host pub trivia a couple nights per week! That has been a great way for me to get out of the house and do something fun, keep my mind active, learn new things, and see new people. It’s absolutely a blast to do. 

As far as my Star Wars hobby that I mentioned, I’ve always been a fan of the movies. The hobby kicked into high gear with “The Mandalorian” because, come on, Baby freakin’ Yoda (or… as he’s now known, Din Grogu). Has it gone overboard? Probably, but as I’ve always said, it’s not worth doing if it’s not worth overdoing! (Much like this essay, now that I mention it.) 

Amber and I have moved up to Rochester, New Hampshire into our very own house! We bought our first place not too long after COVID-19 kicked into gear. It’s been great to turn that house into our home with us and our three cats: Wyatt, Tony, and Pepper, all of whom were rescued from shelters. 

The other thing you might have noticed about me is that I’m smaller now! Well, I am ashamed to say that I had ballooned to over 320 pounds. Those that remember me from Varela know that even then, I wasn’t thin. So I decided that I’d had enough. I underwent gastric bypass surgery and have worked incredibly hard, and from that heaviest weight, I’m down to about 155. That’s right: I’m literally less than half the man that I used to be, and I’m damn proud of it. Clothes shopping is fun. Life in general is much better than it was before. 

All in all, life has gone pretty well over the last twenty years. I hope everyone else in our massive graduating class has had all the success they’ve wanted in their lives. This is the way.