An introduction to me, Gavin

Howdy guys, figure I'd start things off right! My name is Gavin, I am 20 years old, and I'm currently studying Music and Film Studies at the University of Tulsa. This is me.

Music

I have been playing music for between 14-15 years now (I started when I was 5!) and it's what got me into college. This is of me as an infant. Guess I was ruined from a young age..
I started this wild ride by plinking "Twinkle Twinke Little Star" on an electric keyboard where I thought my parents couldn't hear me. Well, they heard me, and almost immediately signed me up for lessons. And somehow I stuck with it for all 12 years of my primary education, leading to this reward at the end of my last performance.
From 6th grade on, I began learning a new instrument seemingly every year. I started out playing Trombone (now my primary), which led to euphonium/baritone, trumpet, and wound up with my, now secondary in school, choice of upright and electric bass. I have also done competitive marching band in high school and college marching band (which are two totally different worlds). This past fall, I was a technician/instructor for my alma mater, which I had been planning on for almost a year prior. I had an absolute blast working with those kids, and some of them were even my peers! I hope to do that every year now, time permitting.
I'm not completely sure where I want to go with music yet; I would love to continue playing, hopefully getting a chair in a local Symphony Orchestra, but I would also love to continue being a staff member at my high school, maybe even become a director/educator if the offer and other situations lined up, but it's too hard to think that far ahead at the moment.

Racing

My second (well, really first) love is motorsports, and cars in general. I idolized the great Michael Schumacher as a little kid, and I always wanted to be the next Michael in Formula 1. I also had a thing for Jeff Gordon, always loved the 24 machine. My racing journey started at 10 years old in circle track karts:
I was under the direction of an old, friendly German man who had won the prestigious 24 Hours of Daytona in 1981, and I still visit him occasionally to this day. The karts were can-am style fiberglass bodies raced around a 0.4 mile oval, which was flat out in those karts. I ended my first season just a few point away from first in our class! The next year I transitioned to circuit racing, which was very different, but I absolutely loved it. This was my first ride on a road course:
That were 100cc Yamaha 2-stroke engine making about 10-15hp on a good day, basically glorified weed-wacker engines, with a carburetor from a chainsaw. Was garbage to tune, but it got me around a track. I ended that season just 2 points shy of 1st place (ugh!). But the next year was more change, this time to a beast:
That kart was a whole new animal. It had a 125cc watercooled 2-stroke engine that pumped out close to 30hp, weighing maybe 50lbs more than the smaller kart. It was difficult to say the least, but so much fun. This was my first outing in that kart, on very old, hard, over-inflated tires. It's amazing I didn't spin it the first lap out, even more so that I kept it (mostly) straight for the whole day. In that kart, I placed 1st overall in my first and second years racing, and 2nd in my final season before not returning again because of life. This is how it sits now:
Yes, it is painted to look like a Mercedes. Would've gone full Mercedes AMG F1 if that Petronas Blue color wasn't so hard to get right, but it still looks the part. Very sad to have my racing career ended, but hopefully this period of my life will only be an extended pause from participating in the sport.

Cars

Since then though, I have graduated to full-sized cars, and that has been a journey too. Skipping my first year with a license, this is the car I drive now:
A 1988 BMW 635CSi. I love this car almost more than any one thing in life. It's German to its bone: old, sometimes grumpy, and requires things to be done a certain way. But it's also incredibly fun and easy to cruise or drive at the limit, especially for a now 30 year old car. It will soon be following my parents as they move away for a new job, but hopefully only temporarily until I graduate. I hang out at car meets and shows whenever I have time; I love talking with other people and finding out what their dream cars are, or what interesting things they've owned or driven.

Extras

I should also briefly mention my other hobbies. I love just listening to music, and therefore audio equipment. I'm not necessarily an audiophile in sense most associate the meaning to, but I do enjoy having and using good equipment. I also love RC cars, and have way too many (still not enough!) all sitting in a room. Soon I will start being a regular at a new local track that opened up recently! And last but not least, I love photography. Most of the photos I take are of my car, but it's a really good, convenient subject that's always there and will go wherever. Nature is cool too, though. And Christmas lights. Those are always fun to use.

Epilogue

So now you have a rough outline of who I am, I can end with the fun bit: I have only recently found interest in crypto-currency and investing/trading it. It's been on my radar for years, really with the advent of bitcoin becoming popular and making the normal jokes with my friends like "Digital money? LOL". Now I see it's legit. And I want in. I was so graciously gifted 0.01BTC a couple weeks ago, and have since put most of it away while leaving some to trade with and put into alt coins. I'm excited to learn more and more over time and hopefully use crypto to augment my normal income over time, or even become my main source of income if I get that good at investing, who knows! I am glad to be joining this community, and others of similar interest, and learning as much as I can to make as much as I can. Thanks for reading all the way though! If you have any questions or anything, feel free to comment or contact me!

-Gavin

Edit 12-13: Obligatory verification. The text is a bit small, but you should get the idea :^)