In 2011 my life changed. I was diagnosed with cancer, Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. I was struck with how in the world I was going to support my family if I pulled through this. At the time I had a wife and a daughter who was less than a year old.
While riding this tsunami size wave of change in my life I discovered 3D Printing. It was that moment that I realized what I was going to do after cancer. I was going to ride out this wave all the way to the end and not let it crash on top of me. It was early 2012 and I was searching YouTube videos about engineering and manufacturing, and there is was. There was a video showcasing a 3d printer and its many uses around the house and its use for making toys. All in all you could create anything and were only limited by your imagination. I was hooked. I began to research anything and everything on 3d printing at that moment.
3D printers were and still are expensive. So I diligently searched the internet for a contest that offered a 3d printer as its prize. As a result I set up a Google Alert to email me anytime the phrase “win a 3d printer” showed up anywhere on the internet. MAKE magazine and Schick razors teamed up and announced Project Remake. I designed a bicycle fender out of a two liter container and submitted it. I followed the progress of the contest and worried about every single entry that I was going up against. After the contest was closed I was chosen as one of the finalists and won my Makerbot Replicator. I was elated and ready to try and print things that I had already designed with the expectation and hope of winning. While this was all going on I was declared cancer free. I had truly found my passion was now going to live to see it through. 
