CURRENT MISSION

I’m gonna clean up this world, The best I can if I can, I'm gonna leave this world behind, The best I can if I can, I’m gonna get through this world, The best I can. -Woodie Guthrie

ABOUT ME

I am a second year med student at the University of South Carolina. I spend a lot of time reading random articles and medical textbooks.

I'm into hiking, camping, and environmental literature (think Ed Abbey and Aldo Leopold). I'm also a huge fan of books about the rain forest and the effects of plants on human history. I read about other things too.

Sometimes I run, sometimes I bike, sometime I walk and sometimes I rock out in my car to country/folk/pop/Latin/rap/whatever save angry rock music.

I like to travel too. I'm generally really good a meeting:
1) random people from the Carolinas
2) sweet elderly ladies from Mexico who proptly give me their addresses and invite me to come visit
3) Professionals who work in industries that I know nothing about. (haha when I'm done talking to them I generally know just enough to make myself look like an idiot)
4)people who know other people that I have met randomly in other random places.

PHILOSOPHY

The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science. Whoever does not know it and can no longer wonder, no longer marvel, is as good as dead, and his eyes are dimmed. -Einstein

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I have a couch, that's all I can really give right now.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've had 2 wonderful couch surfers that have stayed at my house, and I have also met up with another one just to talk about the world of couchsurfing. All of the people I have met have been awesome, and they have all provided really interesting perspectives on the world.

Interests

reading, catholicism, biking, baking (particularly bread), hiking, swimming, camping, environmental microbiology, libertarianism, sour gummy worms, sewing, tropical medicine, infectious disease, good beer, trivia, wilderness medicine, sunshine, surfing, the beach, reading in bed

• arts
• books
• literature
• dining
• beer
• baking
• running
• trivia
• reading
• traveling
• music
• rock music
• cycling
• hiking
• camping
• surfing
• catholic
• swimming
• history
• medicine
• science
• beaches

Music, Movies, and Books

oldies country, John Steinbeck, Desert Solitaire, Talladega Nights: the Legend of Ricky Bobby, Walk Across America, 1776, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Alanis Morsette, Bend Folds (5), Mountains Beyond Mountains, Townes Van Zandt, Lilo and Stitch, The Namesake (the book, I haven't seen the movie yet).

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I spent a month 2 summers ago in rural Ecuador rifling through houses looking for the chinchurro. An insect that is responsible for the transmission of Chagas disease. (see course offered in teach.learn.share). Along the way I met some spectacular people, ate some fantastic food, and fell in love with the country.

Teach, Learn, Share

-bread baking 101
-Intro to current socio-economic issues facing South Carolina and the city of Columbia
-(very) basic botany
-current issues facing American Medicine (from a very biased point of view)
-the Chinchurro and Chagas disease: current research and efforts to combat the spread of this little known disease

Countries I’ve Visited

Ecuador, Mexico

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States