Scott Gress:
CLASS OF 1980
Boone County High SchoolClass of 1980
Florence, KY
Purdue UniversityClass of 1985
West lafayette, IN
Rainier High SchoolClass of 1980
Rainier, OR
James Monroe Junior High SchoolClass of 1977
Seattle, WA
Hamilton Elementary SchoolClass of 1974
Port angeles, WA
Scott's Story
Life
Sarah and I have 3 young boys and live Savannah, GA. I'm a computer geek.
I started school at Purdue and finished up the 8yr college tour in San Diego, graduating as a Mechanical Engineer. I joined the Marines in '82 and then left to become an Army Ranger upon graduation from school. ' 89-90 was spent patrolling Korea's DeMilitarized Zone, '90-91 in Iraq1, and I came back to the States from Germany in '94.
Thru extreme good fortune I picked up a lawyer-chick in a poolhall and then married her in '97. As of 2010 our boys are 5, 5 & 7.
School
In HS I was a pretty weird kid. It took a while to figure out that attempts to be different "in some cool way", generally resulted in being an idiot. It also took a while to figure out that even if you are small, you need to stand up for yourself. Bullies sense weakness like sharks do blood. It wasn't until college that I worked on that a bit.
First HS was in Rainier, OR, a sleepy little logging town on the Columbia River. Although I moved every couple yrs as a kid, I will always think of Rainier as "where I grew up". I was utterly obsessed by Debate, and very involved in playing the trumpet. Did some running too. Lacking both size and courage I was a favorite target for bullies. And moving during a person's junior yr in HS bites.
2nd HS was in Florence KY. No debate, band wasn't so fun, so I directed my obsessiveness at running. Wasn't so darn small anymore so got beat up less.
College
College was rugged. I ran out of money at Purdue so I transferred to San Diego because I could get California state residency. Most folks were making it thru in 6 1/2 yrs but it took me 8. But then not everyone pays for it themselves and joins the Marines en route. Getting the engineering degree was brutal....We had 90% attrition. About killed myself getting the degree and then never used it. Guess that last laugh is on me.
Ran at Purdue and then ran, cycled and did triathlons for San Diego St. Was useful to the teams, but not scholarship material.
Never good at moderation, during college I also went thru a 3yr fanati...Expand for more
cal HAM radio phase, a 3yr fanatical Karate and Judo phase and then settled down into triathlons. The long college tour allows a person to switch interests a few times.
While stationed in Germany (90-94) I was doing some triathlons on the World Cup circuit. Won the US Military championships in '03 and that got me invited to the World Championships. Unsurprisingly, I got my butt kicked.
Injuries sidelined me for a couple yrs. Got a knee scoped in '01 and had a couple more good years of triathlon. Was the '05 GA state champion for the Masters age group. It was the usual story, I was ok, but not terrific.
Workplace
After the Army I turned myself into a Microsoft/Cisco computer geek. Run a WAN for a Dental/Medical retailer called Brasseler USA. MCSE (Everything) and CCVP, for the other computer geeks out there. If folks knew how much fun us computer geeks have, they wouldn't pay us.
Military
Joined the Marines in '82 while in college and bounced between Active Duty and Reserves a bit to both pay for classes and have the time to take them. 3yrs in Communications and 3yrs in Intelligence. As I neared graduation from college I became more and more gripped by a need to prove what I was made of. Tried to become a Marine Infantry Officer but Marine OCS was full. So in'88 I joined the Army to become an Army Ranger. Did OCS, Infantry Basic, Airborne and Ranger at Ft. Benning, GA. in '88-89. Did tours on Korea's DMZ, Iraq1, Germany and then back to GA. Left active duty in '98 and joined the Guard. A bit later I retired as a Major.
I managed to grow up a bit and get over the need to prove what I was made of. I learned that there were folks out there that were far harder then I. Folks that were willing to put up with privations and discomfort for weeks on end that the average metrosexual couldn't tolerate for 30 secs. And I learned a lot about people. It wasn't the easiest road, but you don't learn anything from easy.
Current obsession is racing a little BMW. Is incredibly fun and exciting. Is sometimes terrifying. Lots of stories and videos at Gress(dot)org
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