|
Titus' Web Pages |
 |
|
|
I can break this page up into 4 parts I guess:
My mom runs a Day Care Center for preschool-age kids out of her home. (What a headache to have to deal with every day, let me tell you). My dad works for Ryder, driving a schoolbus in nearby Gresham, OR. My brother is attending Western Oregon University where he plays wide receiver for their Football Team. Western started the season ranked 6th in the nation in the NAIA, but had a few too many close losses to make the playoffs.
I graduated from David Douglas High School (hopefully they will be updating their pages soon its pretty meagre right now) in 1994. Fellow DDHS alums visiting my page might want to check out the DDHS Alumni Page, and the Alumni Registry. While at DDHS I played football, wrestled, and ran track and cross country. I was involved in student government, including a year as Jr. Class President. I was in a dozen different clubs- Future Probem Solvers, National Honor Society, Ecology Club, Speech Team, Key Club, Jr. Honor Society, Model UN and Students Against Drugs at David Douglas among them. My favorite activity in High School was probably the short-lived TeenAge RepublicanS Club. My good friend Darren Sumner and I founded this activity to increase high school students' political awareness. We had round-table political discussions at lunch and invited local politicians to come and speak. The administration wasn't very fond of some of the controversial speakers we invited (the principal about threw a fit when we invited Lon Mabon's Oregon Citizens Alliance). We figured that it would be a good educational experience for students to learn about the political factions at work in the state, regardless of what they agreed with, apparently the principal didn't agree. Check out my political links. My senior year I organized the first Blood Drive held at my school for many years as my Eagle Scout Project. I set it up to be a biannual occurrence sponsored by the National Honor Society (of which I was vice president that year). Notice I’m not talking much about my social life here. Hmm, wonder why... Ever since I was in grade school my goal was to go to a Service Academy. I’d always wanted to go to The Air Force Academy and my Dad was hoping I’d go to West Point. By some quirk of fate I ended up choosing The Naval Academy, and am immensely glad for making this choice. At any rate, I spent most of my formitive years preparing myself to get accepted to one of these institutions.
Plebe Summer was the most miserable time of my life, but I suppose it built character and taught me to deal with stressful environments or something like that. I rowed with the Men’s Crew Team during that summer, which probably didn’t help much (I have a lot of respect for anyone who does crew). I was a Mathematics Major at the Academy. Here is the abstract for the paper I wrote for my Honors Project (The entire paper, without the appendices, is 12 MB). :) I received the National Society, Daughters of theAmerican Revolution, Prize in May for "excell[ing] in the area of Operations Analysis." Here is a picture of me receiving the award with the Academic Dean, the Math and Sciences Division Director, and the Mathematics Department Chairman. The Debate Team was my primary activity while at the Academy. I debated for three years and served as Team Captain my firstie (senior) year. I won a couple tournaments at JV my second class (junior) year, and did a lot of administrative work and judged rounds as a firstie. A very rewarding educational experience for me. I was also the President of the Math Club my senior year. It was in this capacity that I got to introduce Kim Peek, the man who inspired Dustin Hoffman's character in the Academy Award Winning movie, Rainman to what was probably the most well attended Math Club meeting in the history of the Naval Academy. I also had the opportunity to serve on the Academy's Honor Staff my first class (senior) year as a Brigade Investigative Officer, investigating potential violations of the Academy's Honor Concept that had been submitted to the staff. Notice I'm not talking much about a social life here, either. One of the reasons I might reconsider my choice to attend an Academy, but overall it was a worthwhile experience. I'm sure I'll be glad I went there after another 5 years or so. My firstie (senior) year, I adopted a sponsor family and started getting out of the Hall more. It was nice to finally be able to have a car and a place to go. I made some really good friends that year.
Well, I'm in the Navy for at least another 5 years. I finish up with Prototype in December, spend 3 months in Groton, Connecticut for Submarine School, and then I get stationed on a ship somewhere for 3 years. I'm hoping to get stationed in Bangor, Washington for a couple reasons. First, I think I want to be on a Ballistic Missile submarine, which is what they have there, and second, it would be nice to be only a few hours (a weekend trip) from my family. Most likely I'll stay in through my first "shore tour," which will be the following 2 years, and get out in 2006 (ouch, sounds like such a long way off, doesn't it?). I'm hoping to get a Master's Degree in Operations Research before I get out, but we'll see how things work out. My current plans are to go to seminary right after I get out of the Navy, but we'll see where the Lord is leading me at that time. If I think that I have the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher at that time, I will most likely re-enroll in an undergraduate program to get training in Classical Greek, and Ancient History. Even if I don't have the gift I will attend a seminary, as I'm convinced that a good understanding of theological issues should not be limited to just pastors. I could see myself in any number of occupations, including being a pastor, working somewhere in the field of Operations Research, an Economist, a Financial Advisor, and I'm sure I'll teach something somewhere for a little while at least, maybe high school, maybe college, or maybe at a seminary. One of these days I'll probably end up getting married and having a family, but it is looking like that is still quite a ways off... His timing is perfect, and there is no need to be in a rush with it. :) In all things not my will but the Lord's be done, and I have plenty of time before any of these decisions become important in my life. |
|
|
