I am an American born in New York with mixed European heritage and raised Roman Catholic. Before age 10, I lived in five different U.S. states and Japan. I grew up mostly in Virginia and New Jersey. My father spent 20 years as a United States Marine Corps officer and my mother worked for the public school board (she is also an author).

Immediately following high school, I joined the U. S. Navy in 1992 for a four-year enlistment. My military experience took me to various parts of Greece, Italy, The Middle East, Canada, and the Caribbean. At each destination, I attempted to find the areas that revealed as much religious and cultural history as possible. These experiences expanded my worldview in unexpected ways. They provided much more than information and factual history. They built my understanding of how societies lived and made decisions. I always found this fascinating.

I later married into a family of Korean and Japanese descent, lived in Hawaii, toured Japan, lived in Arizona, then moved back to Hawaii. My ongoing curiosity of different cultures led me down an academic path. I earned a BA in history at the University of Arizona and mostly studied European history, United States history, Asian religions, Western and Eastern philosophy, and Korean language.

After being a teaching assistant in a philosophy course that explored the relationship of religion and science, I was inspired to get involved in education. My personal investigations into religious history, religious philosophy, and religious psychology have continued and become more focused over time. I am currently a history teacher in Hawaii. 

My fascination with these concepts and all of the social sciences propels my daily reading, journaling, drawing, and occasional trips to religious and historic sites. My education will never feel complete, but the process of learning holds the highest value.