Photojournalist

   I was a mass media and journalism student minoring in photography. I have been the editor of “The East Texan.” I enjoyed the opportunities this work provided to meet different people at all levels of the university and inform readers of events happening around campus.

 

   I worked membership and sales for Costco Wholesale for over three years. This involved meeting and speaking with strangers and explaining the virtues of the membership levels and the American Express credit card. I was very successful as an executive floater and enjoyed a high retention rate. I was taught how to evaluate our sales and compare them to employee work hours and how warehouse growth was measured.

 

   I have extensive forensic experience with the Plano, Texas and Austin, Texas police departments.  These jobs taught me to be detail oriented and very thorough. I would discuss crime scenes with officers and detectives as well as interview victims and witnesses. I have worked everything from graffiti to murder cases. This work involved photographing the scene, collecting and documenting evidence, processing for latent fingerprints, writing a technical report, and testifying in court. I excelled at explaining technical information in layman’s terms to detectives, prosecutors, and jurors. I received numerous letters of commendation and an award for being an initial member of the Austin Police Department Crime Scene Search Team. I was selected to be an instructor for the Texas Department of Public Safety Training Academy police photography course.

 

   I am a veteran of the United States Army. I was a paratrooper and air assault specialist. I became the Company Training NCO while stationed in Germany. I was responsible for determining what training was needed, writing reports, maintaining soldier training files, coordinating with other units for access to weapon ranges, and coordinating with company and battalion personnel to organize training for the company and individual soldiers. My battalion Executive Officer described my work quality as two levels above my paygrade. While on a Long Range Surveillance team, I was responsible for infiltrating behind enemy lines to determine where resources were being staged and deployed. As a unit armorer, I signed for all weapons, bayonets, and optics assigned to my company. This job required me to inspect every weapon and maintain detailed documentation. As an infantryman, I participated in a variety of combat exercises and supervised and trained junior members of my squad. Military awards include National Defense Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Good Conduct Medal, Overseas Ribbon, and Army Service Ribbon.