You're about to learn more about me than you probably bargained for! :-D Here is where I'm going to talk about some things that have happened in my life, and what might come.

As you know by now (or should have guessed from the URL of my website), my name is Derek. I am now 27 years old (I turned 29 on November 9), and am a 6'3" tall male with brown eyes and hair. I currently live in Jacksonville, Florida (Regency area). I started working for Citibank in July 2002, as a Customer Service Sales Associate. I really enjoyed my job - it was challenging yet fun, and had great pay. After 2 years, I moved to another department as a Retention Sales Associate. The job is a lot of fun and the pay is incredible!! That's always a good thing, right? :-D While back at home in Jacksonville, I plan to finish up my degree, pay off my bills, and start saving up some money to do things like travel. I want to go back to San Diego, which happens to be one of my most favorite cities. I've been there twice now.

I was born in Jackson, Mississippi, where I lived for about 7 years. I moved to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, where I lived for another 2 years. After that, I went to Jacksonville, Florida, the place I consider my "home," for 8 years. At my church, (Holy Spirit Catholic Church) I was an altar server. All (well, most) religions are fascinating to me. I am most especially interested in Kemet, the ancient religion of Egypt (You know, the one with all the gods and goddesses like Horus, Isis, Osiris and such). I have learned quite a lot about it, and I love studying all about it.

I was fairly involved in the first high school I went to, Sandalwood High. I was in Interact Club (community service), International Club (Diversity awareness), and the Marching Band. My first job was in Jacksonville working for PetSmart. That was a really good job, and incredibly fun. I had the opportunity to learn a lot about animals, responsibility and jobs in general.

I left Jacksonville and moved to Columbus, Georgia for my Junior and Senior years of high school. While living in Columbus, I worked for the Disney Store. It was a good job, and had some decent benefits; however, that company is FAR different from the Disney Corporation proper, and does not give its employees the same benefits or treatment.

At my second high school, Hardaway High, I was involved in the Spanish Honor Society. This is very similar to the National Honor Society, but for those who excel in Spanish as well as academics. I was nominated into the Chatahoochie Valley Foreign Language Honor Society, which is an organization similar to the Spanish Honor Society, but exclusive to this geographic area. I was also involved with Key Club, a community service club. I graduated from Hardaway High School on June 4, 1999 with the 'College Prep' seal on my diploma.

Onto a sad note. My father passed away on April 9, 1999, less than 2 months before my High School graduation. It was a *VERY* unexpected shock. The things that have happened as a result of his death are even more of a shock. It is amazing what death does to people, and a family especially. The only way that I've been able to deal with my father's passing is by cherishing the memories of him, having no regrets or guilty feelings about anything, and with the continued support and prayers of my friends and family. This has been a very difficult road to go down in my life. The loss of a parent, especially at such a young age, is one of the hardest things a person can endure and it hit me really hard.

But, I moved to Gainesville, Florida in August 1999, and was a student at the University of Florida, majoring in Commercial Recreation. (Special event planning, conferences, concerts, large events, et al.) I worked for the University of Florida as the Webmaster for the Institute of Food and Agricultural Science (IFAS) Office of Sponsored Programs. In November 2001, I got a job as Assistant Manager of the Piercing Pagoda in the Oaks Mall. That was a wonderful job and a huge learning experience for me. I learned a lot, not only about jewelery, but about large corporations, good management, customer service, and people in general.

Gainesville give me innumerable memories, and taught me invaluable lessons - some bad, most good. I definitely left a very different person than when I got there, but that's what life is all about I guess. Now I'm back in Jacksonville. I've moved around a bit, I'd guess you can say.

Anyway, I have put together a collection of pictures of myself and some of my friends, so if you're interested, just click here. A lot might say this is egocentric or whatever, but if you know me, you know I have a large self-esteem problem, and posting pics of myself is definitely not for the bragging rights. The pictures are definitely not the greatest in the world, but hey... I'm no model, either! If I don't yet have your picture on my friends page, just e-mail it to me, and I'll get you added ASAP. =o)