The Life and Times of Chris Long
Well I guess I should start in Robesonia, Pennsylvania, since it was the town in which I grew up. It's a small town about twenty minutes west of Reading. It has a high school (which later in the story I attend), several churches, and the ruins of an old coal furnace.
The furnace is, as you may or may not have guessed, the reason for the town's existence in the first place. The furnace was built in 1794, and then expanded in 1854 by Henry P. Robeson. The expansion then paved the way for the town which was founded in 1855 and largely consisted of the workers of the furnace and their families. The furnace is long gone by this point, but every year the town gets together and holds the furnace festival in celebration. You can take tours of the ruins and generally learn more of the history. Plus there's bingo, an auction, funnel cake, and plenty of other enjoyable things to do.
I went to Conrad Weiser High School, also located in Robesonia. But before you get any ideas, let me just stop you right here and say that the town wasn't that small. In fact, I went to elementary school in the next town over. And our school district included Robesonia, the two towns on either side (Womelsdorf and Wernersville), and several townships. So let's hear no talk about me growing up in a small rural school.
Even though it's completely accurate.
It was in high school that I met Jodie. We met in band and I liked her immediately. Of course life takes its little twists and turns, and it wasn't until 4 years later that we actually started dating. More on that in Jodie's page.
I eventually graduated (despite general objection) and went on to further education (despite general objection) at Susquehanna University, located in another small town (slightly north of the last one), Selinsgrove, PA. Thus begins my independent, and slightly less sober years of college.
Quite frankly, they were pretty good years.
I majored in Computer Science, and minored in Math and Theatre. That may seem like a weird combination, but it's not. Screw you.
Aside from academic pursuits, I was also a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, a national music fraternity for men. It is a wonderful organization of which I am proud to be a member, whose mission I think can best be summed up by this paragraph from the website's about you section:
Sinfonians share a love of music that unites them as brothers with a common interest. The Fraternity teaches men to develop themselves and their art, not for the sake of art itself, but as a means of enriching the lives of others. Through a multitude of chapter, provincial, and national events, Sinfonia offers unlimited opportunities for performance, community music outreach, and other activities designed to develop a true appreciation for the power of music to uplift the soul.Some members of note include founder Ossian Everett Mills, Branford Marsalis, and the late Fred Rogers.
I was also employed in a number of jobs while at college. One of those was working on the technical crew for the university, which basically meant that I set up stages, microphones, or ran the light board for major events. It was a good job and fun people, but I had to give it up after a year because I was running through my work study too quickly due to my other jobs. But not before I got to run spotlight for Jon Stewart when he came to perform.
In the IT department, I was a student technician, web developer, and the voice in the telephone. I'm actually not kidding with this one. The powers that be thought that a real human voice was much better than an automated system, so for two weeks before classes started, I recorded every voicemail message for the entire school. It basically went something like, "You have reached extension xxxx. To leave a message for [first person], press one. To leave a message for [second person], press two."
Then it was my job every day to go and get any room changes and then re-record all messages that needed to be updated. It may not sound like fun, but it was pretty decent pay for easy, if tedious work. I'll say this, it was definitely a great conversation piece. In fact, it still is. And getting to see a person's reaction when they first find out that it's me on the message was always very rewarding.
Of course, the web developer job is what I ultimately enjoyed the most, and eventually decided to make a career out of. And that's what I do now. I write webpages for HigherEdJobs.com, a job search site which specializes in administrative and faculty jobs at colleges and universities. Check out the menu link if you'd like to learn more.
Since HigherEd is located in State College, that happens to be where I am now living. Honestly, I wish I would have known this town was so much fun sooner, I may have gone to Penn State. But then again, I'm still not sure I would have liked the big campus, and I wouldn't change a thing about my years at SU, so on second thought, I'll stick with the actual past.
Jodie and I got married after college, and she moved up here to live with me. We've got a nice apartment, and Loki, the best cat in the world. If you are a young couple and our looking to get a cat, go with a kitten. Trust me on this. You will love this little kitten a whole lot more than you ever expected.
Well that's my biography. If you've made it all the way to the end, congratulations. I hope you enjoyed it as much as it was excruciatingly difficult to write.