Where are you from and where did you grow up?
I’m from Pittsburgh and I’ve never lived outside the city limits. I grew up in Carrick and I went to elementary school there. When I went to Central, I lived in the West End in a neighborhood called Westwood, which almost no one has ever heard of.

I heard you say you attended Central Catholic. When did you graduate and how was it?
I graduated in 2010. My life at Central was mainly dominated by being on the Rowing team. Rowing really helped me stay organized and on track for success in all areas of my life.  I wasn’t the best student and didn’t fully take advantage of everything Central had to offer me, but if it wasn’t for Central I wouldn’t be the man I am today.

Where did you attend college? Did you always want to teach?
I attended the University of Pittsburgh for my Bachelor’s and my Master’s degrees. I got my Bachelor’s in English Literature and European History and then I got my Master’s in Arts and Teaching. If you told me six years ago that this would be my life right now I would never have believed you. I thought I was going to go off and be a doctor. However, during my first semester of college in my freshman bio class, I realized how much I hated it, dropped the class, and declared a major in English. During my sophomore year, I was playing a pick-up rugby game and I broke my leg. Jay Hammond [Central’s Crew coach] called me up and asked me if I wanted to help coach the freshman. I said yes and I worked with the freshmen for the rest of the year. After my experience of working with them, I was hooked on working with students and I decided I wanted to become a teacher.

What do you do with your life outside of teaching and rowing?
My life outside of teaching and rowing is a limited amount of time. I recently got married to my wife Lucia and we are always looking for somewhere new to eat in the city. I also really enjoy strength training and I am training hard to get on the platform and compete in the USAPL Powerlifting Meet at some point this year. Right now I am living in Lincoln place, but would hope to live in a neighborhood like Greenfield or Bloomfield some time in the future.

What are your plans for the future?
For the foreseeable future, I plan to stay at Central. I don’t plan to leave Pittsburgh because it’s such a great city and I love it here. I enjoy teaching high school and it isn’t financially feasible to go back and get a Ph.D. in English. There is more job security in teaching in high school with a Ph.D. in English than trying to break out and become a Professor of English Literature at a college somewhere. One thing I like about Central is that it is a rigorous Catholic Literature department and while I enjoyed my secular literature education at Pitt, I would like to bring my faith to the table with my literature studies and I don’t think that is easy to find anywhere.