Hello. You and I are both unique and travel along our own interesting paths. This is my short bio. I have three graduate degrees — Masters in Science (Msc) from the University of Oxford, a juris doctor (JD) from Seattle University School of Law and a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from UC Berkeley School of Law. I am also a middle school dropout. Due to family circumstances I never set foot in a high school. I read a big book with ”GED” on the cover and passed the exam when I was 16. I did not attend school again until I was 26. Turns out you need to fulfill your high school credits before going to a University. So I attended Seattle Central Community College and in 5 quarters I made up high school, got an Associate of Arts (A.A.) degree and got a full ride scholarship to the University of Washington (UW) as a BAVA scholar. After being accepted into the Informatics program I changed gears and took every law class I could. I graduated magna cum laude and a member of Phi Beta Kappa. At UW, I Fell in love with the law. Decided to go to law school (against the recommendations of several brilliant people). After graduating, I went on to study at the #1 Geography program in the world and a top 10 law school. All without a high school education.
What I did instead of high school luckily turned out to be some amazing and wondrous things…
The gap from middle school to community college was filled with music, art, meditation, and martial arts. For example, I have 15 years experience working in multimedia (est. 1999). I created my first website in 1996 and began working in a video streaming startup in 1999. I have been a dj since 1998 and have performed at over 250 events from small art galleries and warehouses to multi-million dollar venues and some of the world’s largest music festivals. I have also helped promote and organize well over thirty art and music events. I worked at a million dollar recording studio as an audio engineer. I studied Aikido with a Shinto priest, a practitioner’s certificate in hypnotherapy and NLP, i’m a Reiki Master, Vipassana student, and an internal martial arts aficionado (Yang Style Taijiquan, Bagua Zhang, and Qi Gong). I have attended over a dozen Inipi ceremonies and several Tibetan Buddhist empowerments, I studied with shamans, an 8th generation Shinto priest, and two kung fu grandmasters (although one wanted to be called Mr. Yueng and the other Sid).
My greatest teacher is my lovely wife, who graces and honors me daily with her presence.