Five-Year Reflection
When I left NYC in January of 2017 and moved back to Birmingham, I actually made one of those five-year plans. Not all of these were on that plan nor did I accomplish all of what I set out (one day Iron Maiden… one day…) nor do I remember everything that happened because it all feels like a blur at this point, but these are all things I’ve done since then, whether by myself or with other people. There's so many wonderful people to thank that I have no idea where to get started. Also, something about a quarter-life crisis and those later years in your 20s are this perfect time for a whirlwind of urgency and action. I think what I’m most proud of is that I did all of this while remaining steadfast and true to who I am.
To quickly start with a few things I tried to do but stopped spending my time on for one reason or another:
-
My buddy Nick wanted me to spearhead a basketball page for his fantasy empire. Did initial research before stopping since I was campaigning + going to school + working.
-
At the start of the pandemic in the U.S., I initially helped my buddy Brad with his work for Frontline Foods Alabama. Did a few things before having to make donation calls, then stopped because I loathe sales or asking for money.
-
Also around the same time, put an idea together for an app for a local mosque or eventually religious institutions with my friend Carole to help people anonymously say when they're in need and people could help in the app, with the mosque being a safe place for coordination. Pushed this idea until potential liabilities arose (legal or otherwise).
Okay now onto the fun stuff:
-
Got to go down with a couple of friends to take a free throw on the floor of the Capital One Arena in DC after the Wizards game and all 3 of us made the free throw. (Proof link).
-
Made a signature cocktail (the Champango), and had one made after me at the Atomic (the Shafiq Islam). The first one I asked for a ton of advice, the second one the Atomic staff surprised me with and I had no part in.
Champango
The Shafiq Islam
-
Started learning how to garden.
-
Started getting into birding, particularly once we put a birdfeeder up in the backyard.
-
Learned how to drum. (Link to a video I took last year I’m proud of).
-
Remodeled two condos with my mom that we still manage. They’re running well and are listed on Airbnb, VRBO, and Furnished Finder. Here’s the before and after of one to give you an idea of the work that went into it.
-
Hiked Mt. Moosilauke in New Hampshire, which I’d say is the first significant hike of my life.
-
Sponsored a student and mother in Bangladesh.
-
Ran a successful family reunion for 55 people on my mother’s side of the family. Write-up link here.
-
Quit all nicotine after 10 years.
-
Won one of the greatest bets of all time in Tulsa -5.5 vs. Tulane. Link to highlight video because this has to be seen to be believed. The win was so ridiculous and crazy I stopped betting, and I’ve held myself to that except for certain occasions.
-
Gave a speech at a best friend’s wedding.
Phish-related stuff:
-
Created the Phish Tableau visualization. Link
-
Made it into Rolling Stone (sort of lol, here’s the link).
---- Basically, the St. Louis Blues won the Stanley Cup while Phish was playing in St. Louis, so we knew something was going to happen. I recorded the stream for the second set opener and caught them playing “Gloria” which was the Blues’ anthem for that season. They followed that with “Loving Cup” by the Rolling Stones, a strong 1-2 hockey-themed punch. Anyways, Ryan Reed of rollingstone.com used my YouTube video for his article. I am still amazed the video never got taken down. I also wonder if Phish started broadcasting their set openers because of me, and then left it up because they thought it was a good idea. It is something in stride with their regular behavior, so long as I never profited off their music.
-
Hosted an episode of Crowd Control on Sirius XM’s Phish Radio. Recording link.
-
Coordinated a bunch of friends to stream Phish shows online at a very discounted price while successfully dodging the internet police (Baker’s Dozen + Summer ’21 tours).
Professional stuff:
-
Worked on Alabama’s Democratic Senate campaigns in 2017. Initially worked for Bobby Kennedy (Lessons Learned post link here). After we finished second in the Primary, I canvassed and campaigned for Doug Jones. Beating Roy Moore is a night I’ll never forget.
-
I worked on Danner Kline’s campaign in 2018 (AL-6 district election). Ended up losing to Gary Palmer.
---- Rest in peace, Alex. I’ll never forget how relentless you were in fighting to make the world a better place, and also how happy you were in organizing the chaos that was the St. Paul and the Broken Bones show at Good People Brewing. The world will take care of your daughter, and she has an angel watching over her.
-
At work, managed multi-million dollar projects involving the entire campus of UAB. Did things like a 15,000 user implementation and training many of them while switching all processes and systems from DocuSign to Adobe Sign in 3 months.
-
Got a new job that actually utilizes my education. (Org link).
-
Earned the PMP and a handful of other certifications.
---- More rewarding than getting my own PMP was sharing my experience with others, people actually reaching out to me before sitting for their exam, then listening to the advice I gave them and them passing.
- Fought a toxic work environment and won.
School-related stuff:
-
Finished Management Information Systems and Health Informatics master’s degrees.
-
Got a 3.8 in my first master’s and a 4.0 in my second master’s.
-
Won the HIMSS student case competition and got a free flight to and hotel at Las Vegas, as well as an opportunity to speak at the conference. I presented a poster at the conference as well. There were a lot of things that came out of this, but I’ll leave it at that. And this picture below because these people + Eddie + Dr. Ozaydin changed my life.
-
Won 2nd place in the MITRE student case competition, would’ve gotten a free trip to DC but because of COVID instead spoke over Zoom to government, private sector, and nonprofit professionals in the area of healthcare fraud.
-
Won top 5 in AMIA student case competition. Didn’t get anything but the team created a pretty awesome mockup utilizing user design principles for a COVID community dashboard. (Dashboard link).
-
Paid off my student loans.
- Worked on and implemented a statewide mental health and substance abuse application for a social service agency.
It's been a lot in a short period. Oh, how time flies…