When I was a little kid, I saw David Copperfield perform a magic show where he challenged the audience to “live the impossible.” This idea inspired me to become a lot of who I am today. In the strictest sense, it inspired me to become a magician myself. Most of my time is spent crafting, practicing, and performing illusion shows in cities around Texas. I find it a thrill to creatively engineer apparent solutions to problems that are impossible to solve. In a deeper sense, this mentality has inspired me to ask the deepest questions about life’s meaning – which is why I am a religious studies major and enjoy having good philosophical conversations. In my free time, I love immersing myself in the fantasy worlds of books and movies, like Harry Potter and Narnia. I also served as the producer of “Beyond Illusion,” a street magic television show on Texas Student TV. I am very involved in my church as a Bible Study Leader and Eucharistic Minister. I am also a member of Beta Upsilon Chi (Brothers Under Christ). I try to emulate what Robert Fulghum wrote in “The Meaning of Life” – that people should be like mirrors: humble in understanding that they are not the source of light (whether that be truth, joy, love, etc.) but living such that the light is reflected unto anyone who meets them.

Majors:

Religious Studies

Other Academic Interests:

Psychology Minor, Business Foundations Program Certificate

What drew you to the Forty Acres Scholars Program (FASP)?

What drew me most to this program was that it was more than just a scholarship. It really fosters an incredible community, bringing together students from all grade levels and majors. The friendships have been some of the strongest I’ve made and the activities we’ve done as part of the program have created some of my favorite memories of my time in college.

Favorite FASP Memory

My favorite FASP memory was probably our freshman retreat, where we all got to spend time really getting to know each other and making friends before the year started. It was a lot of fun just being with my cohort in San Antonio for a few days having a great time!