About Being Normal: Résumé of a Burn Survivor's Career and Education

Contact me at: christopherfitts@yahoo.com

This is my résumé, but this one is very candid. Often when accomplishments are put to paper it can have the appearance that everything fell right into place and that each notch on the career ladder was positive advancement forward. This is usually not the case for most people, and I am no exception. However, everything I've done has added to my character and depth of knowledge. Also, I've held some very long term goals, which over time occassionally reach a mile stone and then realize I'm still on a path that advances me closer to my goal horizon. So, anyway, the landscape this résumé illustrates of my life journey is broad and scattered but a scatter line pattern forms hitting my goal objectives, which is a personal validaton for me because feedback is so important in every aspect of life. I'm not advocating my method, but what I am saying is do what works for you and if you don't like the results of your journey then make different decisions. We all make horrible and brilliant decisions.

Education:

Juris Doctor, The John Marshall Law School, Chicago, IL, 2005 [law degree]
MS, The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, 1994 [library and information science (MLS)]
BA, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, 1992 [economic geography and GIS]

n/a, Hillsborough Community College, Tampa, FL 1990
n/a, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 1986 to 1989 [cognative anthropology]
n/a, Santa Fe Community College, Gainesville, FL 1986
n/a, University of South Florida, Tampa, 1985
n/a, Indian River Community College, Vero Beach, FL, 1985 [dual enrollment while in high school]

Work Place:

5 years Freelance work (Legal, Estate and Small Business Planning, Real Estate, Information Technology, Privacy and Asset Management, and Business Process Analysis)
2 years Director of Information Systems, USO, Washington, DC
6 years Divisional LAN Manager, Acosta Sales and Marketing, Chicago, IL
2 years EPA UST Docket Manager, Washington, DC
2 years Subway Sandwich Restaurant, Tampa and Vero Beach, FL
4 years Contract/Temp Services (census, library, pc support, landfill recycling tech, records management)
4 years fishhouse and dock labour, bait fishing (pogies, aka Atlantic Menhaden) and trapping (mainly pigfish and the occasional crab) on the Indian River Lagoon (wikipedia entry for Indian River Lagoon)
1 year Horse Farm Ranch Laborer
6 months Genetics Lab Technician
2 years Volunteer Candystriper at Indian River Community Hospital
4 years seasonal ditchdigger (during hurrican season)
1 Summer operating a lawn service (my labor managed to detroy at least one sprinkler head per lawn serviced)

Other various work experience:

Door to Door Solicitation seeking donations for public interest group FPIRG (Florida Public Interest Research Group) -- I quit after one day of canvasing in the Doctors Lake area south of Jacksonville, FL. Their tactics were too aggrassive for my taste. I never got paid, but it was an interesting and long day, especially since we had taken a bus from Gainesville to Jacksonville early in the morning and back that night. Note: They do good work.

Moved cars from mainland warehouses to snow-birds' barrier island homes. I drove a lot of great cars that summer. My favorite was a palm-green convertable 1970 ment condition Oldsmobile Cutlass 442. There were many others, but this one was just a thrill to drive.

Presentations and Publications:

Presented USO's Information Systems Initiative at the 1996 World Leadership Conference at Bolling Air Force Base.

Software Piracy, Team USO (circ. 900), May 1996

Bad Ass Dogs Don't Do Ballet, Library of Congress Call Number: PS3556.I819 B3 1994 (mature adult subject matter) -- The full text and other poetry can be found at Stormgrove Press.

Protecting and Managing Your Digital Persona, 2004, JMLS class paper (topic: intellectual property and privacy)

Lectures: Online Privacy; Internet Resources for Business Research; Document Rentention Policies; Entity Structuring; and Corporate Formalities. (Dates span 2007-2008.)

I've lived in the following Cities:

Pre-Burns Miami, Gainesville, Boston (Beacon Street a few blocks from the park), Syracuse, Newton (suburb of Boston)

Post-Burns Gainesville, Vero Beach, Melbourne, Tampa, Alexandria (DC), Chicago, St. Petersburg, and Boston (hospital stays add up)

Burn Survivors in the News with Regard to Careers:

2006 -- One Year Later, Burn Survivor Moves on With Life [burn injury occurred a month after graduating college]