The movie Twister was coming out. I wanted to see it worse than anything, but I wasn't allowed to. My parents knew it would give me nightmares and I don't blame them. However I had a hunger for knowledge and all the books and pamphlets in the book stores and library couldn't satisfy this appetite. While I didn't see the movie Twister, I had watched TLC and the Discovery Channel religiously when it came to weather specials. Such chasers as Tim Marshall, Gene Rhoden, and Bobby Prentice quickly became my virtual teachers and fueled the hunger for me to go out and document thunderstorms. In 1998, my dad had agreed to take me out locally when storms were in the forecast. We waited until April 13th and headed for Central Illinois blind of all aspects of forecasting and technology. All we had was a paper atlas, a big bulky video camera, and an old scanner to pick up the National Weather Service publications. You can read more about that experience in the "1998" section of the website.

I only went on one chase in 1998. It wasn't even a for sure annual event. After that chase though I was hooked. I wanted to document every local event, but being 10 years old and still in 5th grade severely hampered those ideas. When 1999 rolled around my dad offered to take me chasing again, this time it was the day before my 6th grade graduation. This chase was significant as I documented my first tornado albeit by accident. You can read more about this chase in the "1999" section of the website. My hunger grew to an insatiable appetite as I got older and since 2000 I made annual chase trips out to "tornado alley" where I would come face to face with Nature's fury. By the time I was old enough to drive in 2004 I would go out independently and take my own chances. My dad was conservative when it came to chasing and I don't fault him one bit. Taking a minor out in pursuit of violent weather and getting close is not a great idea. But now, on my own, I made the decisions to core punch, find big hail, and get up close to wall clouds/tornadoes. My fear had done a 180 and turned into admiration and respect.

I enrolled into College of DuPage out of high school but never finished the meteorology program due the fact I was also a VERY good baseball player and had dreams of getting drafted into a minor league farm system. This ALMOST happened, but as fate would have it I injured my shoulder and was now a worthless prospect with no future. I was distraught over that and completely took a year off from school and sat and pondered what I would do. My passions are weather, baseball, and public safety. With professional baseball down the tubes, I was left to decide whether I wanted to become a meteorologist or I wanted to become a police officer or fire fighter. My family is full of fire fighters so I made the choice to follow that career path.

In October of 2008, the Evergreen Park Fire Department adopted me into their apprentice firefighter program and were about to give me all the training and procedural duties that I could ask for. For the next 13 months I would go up to the fire house to train and study and to prepare myself for the Illinois Fire Marshall's exams to earn my firefighter II certificate. On December 16th, 2009, I earned that certificate and owe it all to the teachers and firefighters who work for the Evergreen Park Fire Department. As of that date I am officially a firefighter and I couldn't be happier.

Also in 2008 I met my chase partner Adam Lucio. In many ways, Adam is like me. We have the same taste of music, same personality, same goals in storm chasing, and the same hunger to be the best chasers we can be. I couldn't ask for a better friend or companion to go on long road trips with. In addition to meeting Adam, I also started interacting with other chasers from all over the country. Storm chasers are an odd breed. To people outside the chasing world, we are just crazy people that sit alone on farm roads and watch the sky. But to be a part of a chaser convergence before initiation is a special feeling. Sitting there with people that share passion with so many good spirits can really make a busted chase worth it.