Hello fellow Steemians! I hope I can inspire you to pursue your dreams, no matter who you are.
EDIT: Added a verification photo per 
I thought it was time for me to start my own #introduceyourself post after spending a week navigating around Steemit and truly enjoying the positive direction of the community so far. I hope we can take this platform from beta to release!
How I became a Steemian
I stumbled upon Steemit after gaining a major interest in cryptocurrencies over the past year or so. I was very interested in Ethereum, I even went through the pleasure of setting up my own mining rig. It doesn't pump out much, but it was a neat little experiment for me to get my hands on the hardware, as well as learning a bit more about how cryptocurrency works, while making a small investment. When I discovered Steemit, I thought, "why not give it a shot?" since there is practically nothing to lose and everything to gain. I am not very active on any other social media sites, just Instagram, but I believe Steemit can change that. And really, it's not about the money. So far, I've made pennies, but I really enjoy the positivity of the community so far and the encouragement to participate in discussions.
My past life as a blogger and web developer
Years ago I ran my own website, and I started it when I was 17 years old. It was a fan blog for the Chicago Blackhawks called IndianHeadNation, and we were an awesome little community ourselves filled with hundreds of Blackhawks fans! Not only did we all meet online to talk about our favorite NHL team, as well as other off-topic subjects, but we also put together road packages where hundreds of us would go to the Blackhawks away games, most commonly in St. Louis since it was closest. It was a great experience, I am proud of IndianHeadNation, and I still cherish the memories I've made with that community. Unfortunately, I did not have time to maintain IndianHeadNation anymore so we merged with another website called ChiCitySports so that the community can continue to move forward while I pursued my continuing dream of game development. IndianHeadNation was around for seven years before merging, it was the baby I never wanted to give up, but a hobby that I had to let go in order to take the next step in my life.
Full-time job, full-time student
After IndianHeadNation, I got a full-time job in IT for a company called Family Video. I used this job to pay my bills, as well as my tuition at a local community college near me called... Oakton Community College, ha! I took four classes per semester and racked in 40 hours per week at work. Even with the full time job, I've been able to maintain a 3.4 GPA (as well as my sanity) and this is essentially what I've done everyday for the past two years of my life. You're probably going to look at that and say, "this guy is probably a robot, there's no way can a human being can sustain a lifestyle that consists of full time work and full time schooling, when did he poop, eat, and shower?" and to you, I say... you are partly correct, I am partly a robot. You see, Darth Vader once came by my house and challenged me to a light saber duel. After 10 minutes of blistering action, he finally was able to slice off my han- ...sorry, I'm getting off topic here, I'll leave that story for another time.
DePaul University and my ultimate dream
This past winter, I applied and was accepted to DePaul University. Yes, it was exciting. And yes, I looked at the bill and a tear rolled down my cheek. I'm 27, not 17, I should be at least 5 years into my career already, instead I'm in the middle of a "reboot" and it is hard to come to that reality. Nevertheless, even though its super stressful to deal with the debt I'm surely going to owe at an age where I should be prosperous instead of poor, I am still going to fight for my dream of becoming a computer game developer.
A big reason I am doing this is because DePaul was a perfect choice for me in a lot of ways, but the most important thing for me is that they have a state of the art tech in their College of Computing and Digital Media building. Top 10 in the nation. That puts me at ease, knowing I will be in the right place for me, knowing I will get the degree I want and the career that ultimately will follow it.
Follow your dreams, you can make it a reality
This is a dream that is attainable, just as yours is attainable for you. The problem for me is that I just didn't believe it when I was 17, just about to graduate high school. I'm sure there are a lot of people out there like me that don't really believe in their dreams when they are so young, but I hope that I can at least inspire someone else out there to GO GET IT, no matter what age you are, YOU CAN DO IT! I will admit, it's tough for me at the moment, but I am salivating at the thought of getting that paper. It drives me, keeps me going, reaching for that goal that is just an arms length away... and once I have it, I know it can't stop there. I will have more goals, dreams, and accomplishments. This degree will open the door for me, new and endless possibilities. The hunger will always be there.
Hello, Blizzard... knock knock!
Here I am, Steemit! And that's my cheesy sister in the background :)
Drop a comment below and let me know what you think!