Past, Present, and Future
By Max Browning, 8/24/2023
By Max Browning, 8/24/2023
Pretty similar to yours, probably.
I was born in Boise, Idaho on January 7th, 2008. I was alive for the next three years, but nothing really happened. I remember watching a lot of PBS Kids, and that was about it until I discovered baseball. I was about three years old when I heard everyone start cheering from the kitchen, and I walked in to see David Ortiz trotting around the bases after hitting a walk-off home run. In that moment, I thought, "I want to be like that guy one day." It was the beginning of a fascination with sports that I still haven't grown out of, and it led to me joining a t-ball team as soon as I could.
I had a brother, too. That also happened.
When I was five, I started going to Frontier Elementary, just around the corner from my house, because I had to. Because I exhibited signs of being "smart" as an infant, my parents thought I would love school because it would challenge me.
It did not.
And I did not.
Until I joined the GT program at my school, there was next to nothing I enjoyed about the time I spent there that didn't have to do with the fact that I spent it with a small group of friends. This wasn't my teachers' fault (shoutout to Mrs. Beckman and Mrs. Iverson), rather, it was the fact that everything moved so painfully slow that I wished I could either live in fast-forward or not go to school at all. I took much more enjoyment in Cub Scouts, which I started in second grade.
Sixth grade came around and with it, Lowell Scott Middle School. I kept going to school because it was the law, and it was a little better than elementary school. This was where I learned that school doesn't have to be seven hours of boredom every day.
It was also where I learned that I don't like most people.
Middle school was where the students either were cool or they weren't, and I hung out with the latter group because the former reeked of Axe body spray and Monster Energy. Also, many of them vaped. On a more positive note, however, I got to play much better baseball, even though I still lost a lot. I also graduated to Boy Scouts, which is one of the best things I have ever done for myself.
I was originally going to go to Centennial High School, but after hearing about the other, more different high school where you can learn about computers, I decided to leave behind the life I knew and enter the realm of white-collar America. Meridian Technical Charter High School posed every challenge it said it would, did many things that a normal school would never, and made me into an even bigger nerd. Therefore, I decided that this is the best place to spend the next four years.
I also decided to be a NASCAR fan around the same time, though, so maybe the decision-making process hasn't fully developed yet.
Today, I am learning to be a professional giant nerd.
I am currently in my second year at MTCHS, studying in the Hardware and Software Technician focus area. As a freshman, I became involved in Student Government (although I'm currently a non-voting member), National Honor Society (pending official induction) and STOR. I competed at SkillsUSA Nationals in Technical Computer Applications as the only freshman attending from MTCHS, and I plan to return as a sophomore for a second attempt. I also won gold in the Quiz Bowl competition at the state conference.
I am still a baseball player, having developed into a solid outfielder and catcher. This spring, my team won the league championship, marking my first time doing so and only my second ever winning season. I'm also still an active Boy Scout, having achieved the Life rank. I'm currently working toward the Eagle Scout rank, and plan to achieve it by the end of the school year. My favorite baseball team is the Boston Red Sox, my favorite football team is the Seattle Seahawks, and my favorite F1 driver is Daniel Ricciardo. I've recently gotten into UFC, and I'm also a fan of WWE, IndyCar, and NASCAR, although I wouldn't say I have an allegiance to any one competitor in those sports.
Making progress, history, and memes.
I plan to finish high school at MTCHS, and upon doing so, I'm going to go to college, majoring in computer engineering. I would love to go to a prestigous school like Stanford or MIT, but failing those, my first choices are either Georgia Tech or Michigan. After graduating from college, I plan to become a computer hardware engineer.
I would love to do things very differently than the rest of the people I know. I want to live somewhere new (Boston, maybe?), do new things, meet new people. I'm going to start making money as early and often as I can so that I'm funded to live my life to the fullest. I don't know exactly what that looks like, but I'm excited to find out.