I was born April 2nd 1987 to a loving mother who knew from the start that this wasn’t going to be your normal ho-hum childhood. I was born in Chicago and when I was two we moved back to where mom’s family was (Lansing, Michigan). When I was four I knew I wanted to be involved in television (wasn’t quite sure what in television I wanted to do but I knew I wanted to do it). This was settled in my brain when my mother took me to Pittsburgh to meet Mr. Rogers and tour the studio. One of the associate producers took me into the control room where I got to give a cue to Henrietta Pussycat and from that moment I was certain that I had found my place in the world. Creating television.

Around that same time the other love of my childhood entered the house -- the computer. From that first Packard Bell 286 through to the MacBook Pro laptop that I’m working on today I’ve always had an interested in not just doing things on the computer but understanding how they work and what’s coming next for them. The nickname cyberjoek was the one I selected when I was five and it’s stuck for over fifteen years. I’ve also been active in communities over those years ranging from the early games community ImagiNation Network and the AOL Kids lists through the Alternative Reality Games and the old ThemeStream service (writing about reality television among other things). I’ve even run a community site as part of a team of high school students.

Outside of television and the internet there was school. I went to East Lansing Public Schools from 4th grade through 12th and got great experience and learned a lot about the world. This was supplemented with a home environment that supported research and question asking. After graduation from ELHS I attended Columbia College Chicago and, as was expected, I majored in Television Writing and Producing and graduated in May 2010.

Outside of television, internet, and school there was Theater. I was involved with All-of-us-express Children’s Theater from the age of six to nineteen. It was one of the things that has shaped me the largest. It wasn’t just theater, it was leadership. As I grew up in the organization I went from being on small crews to larger crews to leading crews to directing shows. That was where I learned responsibility and what it meant to commit to something. It was there that I was able to first show my creativity and not be laughed at for it. It is an experience that lets me achieve the things that you’ll see on the other pages of this site.