I know. that sound's quite cliche, but what else am I suppose to say?
If you have enough interest, let me introduce myself... as far as anonymity admits.
Those who are familiar with my online presence call me Vash. Where did I come up with such a name you ask. Well quite simply, when I was a little twat looking to find a cool internet nickname I was searching through a Suncoast store and found a keychain that I liked. It was a depiction of a cartoon character by the name of Vash the Stampede. Anyone familiar with Anime will recognize this name as belonging to the lovable protagonist from the show Trigun. Anyway, the depiction was of him as a chibi, a super deformed chariature with a large head and small body. I thought to myself... "Vash... the Chibi..." and thus a monster was born.
I am currently a student at Brigham Young University in Provo Utah. I try not to be too proud of it. For some reason a lot of people that live away from Provo look down on BYU students as snobby stuck up pricks who think that they are better than everyone else in the world. If you have a similar attitude towards my chosen school, let me just make one thing clear... I am not "one of those" students.
I don't know how I got here. Just lucky I guess. My grades were better than many (I was in the top 23rd of my class I think), but that isn't hard when you grow up in a rural area where the people are more concerned about teaching children a trade rather than preparing them for college. (I have nothing against my old school or the people that work there, I just hope that they can open their eyes to the great potential they have.)
I'm not rich, as a matter of fact every penny that got me here has been my own with the exception of the small amount of help my parents and extended relatives can offer. (I now have a scholarship and government grants helping me out a great deal, but I still have a 20 hour work week on top of a 14 credit hour class schedule just to make ends meet.)
My family doesn't have generations after generations attending this school. I'm the first one in my entire family to ever attend a University, so I've got nothing in that category on my side.
Despite all of this, for some reason I was accepted into this school, and trust me, I don't look a gift horse in the mouth. If I had to explain why I chose to come here, it would be for several small reasons:
1) IT'S CHEAP. Tuition here is about $1,200 a semester, and I pay $250 a month for a private dorm room. Say what you will about the LDS Church, but they sure do take care of their own. Even student's who are not members of the Chruch only pay a fraction of the cost for a formal education elsewhere.
2) REPUTATION. Yeah as much as I say I'm not "one of those" students, I am looking forward to putting "BYU graduate" on my resume. The school is really trying it's best to compete with the top schools in the country on many fronts, and I'll be happy to ride that to a nice fat paycheck one day.
3) I FEEL AS IF THIS IS WHERE I'M SUPPOSE TO BE. I don't care if you believe that there is a force out there that has a higher plan for us or not. I feel as if I was lead to come here. Everything that is good that has happened to me has been because I, or someone close to me has followed those "gut feelings" that just say "this is right." I'll explain more on that another time if I feel so inclined.
My idol's in life are (In no particular order)
1) My Grandfather- the man who introduced me to a lot of the things I love. He took me on my first Roller Coaster. Outings to the local Amusement Parks or Disney World with my Grandparents were par for the course, and they sacrificed a lot just to spend the time with my brother and I. I will never forget them for that, and especialy my Grandfather who believed in me and what I wanted to do. He never said "No, that's too hard." He always wanted me to follow my dreams and be happy. Pops passed on over four years ago, and I miss him dearly. If he has the opportunity to look down at me from above, I hope he can be proud of what I have become.
2) Walt Disney- a dreamer and a kid at heart no matter how old he got. Mr. Disney embodies almost everything I want to become in life (spiritual matters aside). In a very real way, I feel a great debt to him because of the joy that his ideas have brought to my life and the lives of my family. It is my dream to one day work for Walt Disney Imagineering and pass some of that joy down to others through my own ideas and hard work.
3) Nephi- If you don't know who he is, then you should read the Book of Mormon. Nephi was the man that every man should be, brave, noble, god-fearing, strong in body and spirit, and a great author to boot. Wether or not you believe the Book of Mormon is true, anyone can gain insight on how to be a better person by reading it's words. And it all starts with Nephi's efforts to follow his father and obey the commandments of God.
With all this said, I am not some kind of bible thumping goody two shoes who exalts himself above mere mortals with his extreme righteousness. I try my best to follow the teachings of my religion, but I've got some skeletons in my closet, and I'm not afraid to admit that. Of course I want to change some of those things, but I realize it will take me years to reach the point where I would consider myself a "righteous" person, if I ever get there at all. So don't be surprised if I'm all gushy about the gospel one minute and all Ozzy Osbourne the next. I like Ozzy, and I'm not afraid to admit that he sits on the opposite shoulder of the angel. (I haven't given him a name yet.)
About my hobbies... Here is where the confessions begin. I... am... a... NERD! Not only am I a nerd, I'M PROUD OF IT! It's taken me a long time to come to terms with this, but I know where I belong, and what I enjoy and so I don't need to hide it with anything. I enjoy playing table top RPG's, watching Anime as well as American Cartoons, Reading (novels, and comic books), Music, Movies, and yes, Video Games. I've done Live Action Role Playing (LARP: Verb. An event where a bunch of nerds run around in the woods beating each other with foam padded sicks and pretend to be something cooler than they actually are.) I'm just now getting into a sport called Airsoft (A lot like LARP, only you shoot each other with plastic BB's.) My fiancee really wants me to start taking better care of myself, so I've picked up running on the indoor track here at school. I'll tell you how much I like that one as soon as I figure it out. I also enjoy riding Roller Coasters and studying Amusement Park rides. (I know Utah is a GREAT place for that.)
I am addicted to web comics. They are free, and have a lot more variety than anything Marvel or DC puts out (even though I do love X-Men, Spider Man, Batman, and the like). I like reading them because it gives me an escape from the every day. A release if you will. Here are a few of my favorite comics:
The Devils Panties (It's Not Satanic Porn, I swear!) www.thedevilspanties.com
Megatokyo (My first ever infatuation with web comics) www.megatokyo.com
Sandra and Woo www.sandraandwoo.com
fans www.faans.com
Sister Claire www.sisterclaire.com
Looking For Group (Richard is a hoot) www.lfgcomic.com
This list is no where near exhaustive of all the comics I read, but it gives a good idea of the variety I read. I must admit that I have spent many many hours reading these comics, and if you are like me, you will get hooked on them too, so prepare to say goodbye for the family, friends and dog for a while. However, if your reading this, you probably have done that already.
Well, It's getting late, and even though I love to talk about myself, I've got an airsoft event to go to tomorrow morning and I need some sleep so I can bust some caps... er... plastic BB's.
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