Who am I?

A little about me!

My name is Randy or "Slow Poke". Slow Poke is my Army nickname for my love-hate relationship with running. I am 30, actually turning 30 this weekend ...man I am getting old... My wife Kasie and I have been together since high school, we have two children, 1 son Aiden Allen who is 4yrs old, and 1 daughter Demi Lynn who is 6 months old I served 6 years in the U.S. Army. 3 years as a Combat Engineer, 3 years a Chinook helicopter mechanic.

Why did I come back to school?

I enrolled to VWCC with my GI BILL from the military along with a Vocational Rehab program from Veteran Affairs. I am currently enrolled in Information Systems Technologies, and would like to go into the Cyber Forensics area and eventually work for the federal government in IT. I have been out of school almost 12 years I feel I needed to just dive back in....or I wouldn't commit fully. Honestly, I never saw myself going to school...EVER...but I had some injuries pop up and all of my manual labor / restaurant experience was useless in finding a position that required a degree. I didn't know I was interested in school or furthering my education until I went to Leadership courses in the military and then changed my MOS "job" to Helicopter repair.

My Bio!

I grew up in a small town that farmed and I loved it...My life plan was to buy a house have a family like the one I grew up around and never leave town. I am from Strasburg, VA straight up I-81 and moved to Roanoke back in 2005 worked random manual labor and restaurant jobs until 2010 when I joined the military. While in High School I was the typical class clown and really had no aspirations to better myself with education. While in high school I played a plethora of online games, I developed a few scripts for some people on freelancer sites.My current hobbies are anything outside that keeps my son's face out of the TV or his electronics, he doesn't mind too much because he catches all the fish.

My Mantras!

If I could explain myself in three quotes, I feel these three fit me well;

"Its ok to be happy in a calm life"

My style of living is a drama free as possible, I spend it with my family and nothing stops that.

"It is what it is"

While in the service I developed a saying "It is what it is" kind of my you can complain all day or just stop crying and do it mentality. It is also a common reminder of a great friend of mine who passed away far to early in life.

"Be kind, Work hard, Stay Humble, Smile Often, Stay Loyal, Keep Honest, Travel When possible, Never Stop Learning, and Be Thankful Always, AND LOVE!"

I believe in hard work, and doing right by everyone I meet, you can't meet people sitting at home, so TRAVEL. While in the Army you see many leadership styles, both good and bad, the bad leaders had a severe lack of humbleness about themselves. Everyone has a support system and it was developed through being good to others.

Peace