I was born in Bloomington, Indiana, but my earliest memories are from my days in Taiwan, where I lived until I was 6 years old. At this time my father obtained a teaching position at the University of Hawaii, and our family moved to Oahu. We spent 4 years there, during which time I managed to learn to speak English at school while speaking Chinese at home.

When I completed third grade, my father was offered a position to teach drama at National Taiwan University. So our family moved back to Taiwan yet again. When I entered fourth grade in the local elementary school, I was behind in Chinese and had to catch up. Through a complete immersion into the environment, I was able to catch up by the time I was in sixth grade.

I went back to the States after finishing ninth grade in Taiwan, and lived with my aunt in Florida while attending high school. Thanks to intense English tutoring at home while in Taiwan, I did not have much difficulty with English when I entered high school in the States, and was able to surpass most students in English eventually. After graduating from high school, I attended the University of Portland. There, I earned a B.S. degree in chemistry, graduating summa cum laude, and was accepted into OHSU School of Medicine, but after attending two years of medical school, I decided that my interests lay elsewhere. I then went to Oregon State University where I obtained an M.S. degree in chemical engineering. While at OSU I held positions as teaching assistants and research assistants in the chemical engineering department, and I also completed a 7-month internship at LSI Logic.

I have been in the Army the last few years, and have been doing translations for friends in Taiwan as a side-job. They range from technical articles to children's books, and I have discovered I quite like it. As I have just gotten out of the Army, I have decided to expand in this area of work. I would also like to be able to use my knowledge of Chinese and Chinese culture in other capacities, perhaps helping companies in the US conduct joint ventures with companies in China.