I was born on September 28, 1975. Lucky for me I was the first baby born at Southwest General Hospital in Middleburg Heights, Ohio. My mom was transferred from the old hospital to the new one while she was still in labor. I grew up in Parma and Seven Hills, which are both suburbs of Cleveland. (map)
I went to grade school at St. Columbkille Catholic School and graduated in 1990. I went to Padua Franciscan High School in Parma. I graduated in June, 1994. I was involved in: Track, Cross-Country and Marching Band. I also was involved in “West Side Story” my senior year because I hurt my leg really bad and couldn’t run track. One of my favorite memories is the football team beating Lake Catholic my senior year and making it to the playoffs, even though we lost in the first round. I also won an award for straight A’s for all four years in French class.. I went to France for a week with a bunch of girls from my French class and our two teachers in June, 1994. . We went to Paris (went up the Eiffel Tower, saw the Mona Lisa) , Versailles, Normandie ( a week after the 50th anniversary of D-Day) and a few other places. It is a trip that I will never forget.
I started my college career att Baldwin-Wallace College, but left after one year, I decided to leave because I was way too close to home. Plus, most of my friends would go home on weekends. . So, I transferred to Ashland University. After going to AU for a 1 1/2 years, I transferred to Mansfield University of Pennsylvania. Yes, I have gone to more than a few colleges in my lifetime.I was a communications major as well at Mansfield and graduated with a dual major in broadcasting and journalism in December, 1999.
Unlike Jason, I didn’t has as much luck finding a job after graduating. I finally landed a job with WUPW-TV, the Fox Affiliate in Toledo in July 2000 as a part-time production assistant for their 10pm newscast. The hours were Friday and Saturday nights, so they weren’t the greatest. So I decided to ditch the TV business.
I decided to go into dental assisting and worked for Dr. Marion, an Endodontist (a dentist who specializes in root canals) in Toledo. I worked there from April 2003- July 2004.
Unfortunately, for my career, we moved to Corpus Christi so I had to leave.. I tried to get a job with a dentist, but had a hard time finding a job because all of the assistants are trained to do everything and I wasn’t. In Ohio, most of the doctors would train on the job.
I ended up going back to school for Dental Assisting at Del Mar College during the day and worked at night at Brazos Higher Education as a Loan Consolidator. I finished at Del Mar in July, 2006. After Dental Assisting School, I found a job working for a dentist, Dr. Martha Respondek as an assistant in Corpus Christi. I worked there from November 2006 until we moved to Indy in October 2007.
After moving to Indianapolis, I tried to find a job as a dental assistant but again I had no luck. This time it was due to the fact most assistants in Indiana had expanded functions. They were allowed to do more things that you weren’t in Texas and Ohio. You had to take a class or be trained by a dentist. So, I looked for a job for awhile and there was also a shortage of jobs due to the economy.
So, after six months of being unemployed I stepped away from dental assisting and found a job with a great company. I am working as a Claims Processor for Anthem Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Indiana. I have been working there since April, 2008.