1.Throughout my life, people have always thought I've been older than I was; I have a deep voice, and I've always been pretty smart for my age. I'm currently 18, and if I'm talking to someone I don't know over the phone, they tend to assume I'm in my mid 20s.
2. I'm an academic. I intend to become a historian professionally, and teach for a living, preferably at a university.
3. Teaching is my passion in life; no matter what I do, I always find a way to try to help people to understand it.
4. Before deciding on the path of academia, I was an excellent musician. I can play both the clarinet and the piano at the ARCT level, and I've taught privately since I was 16 on a variety of woodwind instruments, including sax, flute, and bass clarinet (as well as my main instruments).
5. Despite being an arts major, I'm really quite good at math. The only reason I didn't take calculus in highschool is because I didn't figure it would be useful in history, and it sounded like a ton of work for little reward. I sort of regret that now.
6. I'm a grammar nazi. So much so that I might as well say it in german: Ich bin ein Nazi Grammatik. (6.5: I'm learning german. I'm not bad, but I'm not really sure if what I just said is right, grammatically. paradoxical, no?)
7. I'm an atheist. I've also studied the judeo-christian religions extensively, as well as many other, more obscure religion traditions, such as neo-paganism and Zoroastrianism. I've been in multiple debates and discussions with people where I've taught them things they didn't know about their own religion, despite being an atheist.
8. in keeping with number 7, I've actually read more of the Koran (or Qur'an, depending on who you ask) than I have of the Bible.
9. I enjoy writing and editing/marking/correcting essays. It goes along with loving to teach, but really, correcting a piece of academic writing is a challenge for me; I love to try to find all of the errors, and think of better ways to relate what the writer is trying to say. Not only does it help the person whose work I'm marking, it helps me to become a better writer.
10. I do drink [alcohol], but not that drek that the typical frat boy does. When it comes to alcohol, I'm an elitist. I don't drink to get drunk, I drink for the flavor; while I'm used to people in my dorm buying a 2-4 and getting smashed on something that tastes like it was collected from a sewer, my roommate and I are drinking scotch. (EDIT: yes, I'm 18. I also live in Canada. As it turns out, you don't need to be 21 here.)
