Smarter Than the Average Bear

Over the years, I've racked up some intellectual achievements. Here are some of them. Below is my perfect score on the ASVAB. I know I got a perfect score because the proctor came and told me about 30 seconds after I submitted it. My Army GT score is within two points of what my IQ was measured at when I was eight. I've read that GT and IQ are usually almost the same. I once had a boss pester me about my IQ. I told him I didn't think it mattered much, but since he insisted, I told him. He then hastily and unconvincingly claimed his was higher. If that's the case, it was not evident from his poor writing. Or anything else he said or did. 

In 2003, I got into UCLA. It's often ranked as one of the best public universities in the world. I ended up going to WVU to avoid student loans. That was a smart move. WVU - Where Greatness Is Learned and Couches Are Burned. I earned my degree in chemical engineering there. 

Later, I joined the Army and graduated from the Arabic course at the Defense Language Institute. Only about half the students there graduate the course. Language learning ability declines with age. I must be one of the outliers because I was 32 when I passed the last test. 

Here are most of my college grades. I'm still proud of the "A" I got in multivariable calculus in 2004.

In August of 2021, I applied to NSA to be a code breaker. I didn't think I was smart enough for that, but they think I might be. It'd be nice to work there again. I felt at home there. Ideally, I'd be sitting in a bean bag chair at Fort Meade, eating Cheetos, and breaking codes. It'd be a nice, quiet life of solving math problems. I guess if I was Joe Biden's nephew, I wouldn't have spent the last 2.5 years waiting for a job interview at a place I already worked at. 

I'm not sure why NSA even hires code breakers anymore. There are only a handful of ways to securely encrypt and transmit info, and almost no one uses them. Also, this site can identify almost every cipher/code for free: Code-Breaking, Cipher and Logic Puzzle solving tools | Boxentriq

Back in March, I passed the test to teach math in Florida. I expect to be returning to that field at some point. 

In the Peace Corps, I taught calculus in Swahili and did some other stuff. 

So while I don't have a PhD, a patent, or a Nobel Prize, I've done a lot more than most. I take some solace in that. I'm pretty sure I'm the only guy in history who's been in the Peace Corps, the Army, the NSA, and an insane asylum. Those are all stories for another time.