Hello! This is my first post on Steemit and I figured the best way to start would be to introduce who I am, my life story, favorite ice cream (mint chocolate chip), etc. etc.
I am a millennial, I think, but only just barely. I was born in October 1981, so I think that puts me just barely in the millennial generation. My dad was in the US Navy when I was very young so we moved around quite a bit, though I don't remember most of the moves. I do remember living in California from the time I was 3 until I was just about to turn 6 (that would be '84-'87 for those keeping count). And after that we moved to rural North Carolina where I spent the rest of my childhood.
Now, when I say 'rural' I mean VEEEERY rural. We lived on a farm in the western part of Harnett County in an area where, up until my senior year in high school, there were more unpaved roads than paved roads. It wasn't really a town, but more of a farming community. The official name of it is: "The Upper Little River Township of North Carolina, Harnett County." Good luck finding that mouthful on the map.
Growing up we were poor, I guess, but I didn't really understand that at the time. And when you're living in a farming community words like "poor" are pretty relative. We may not have had enough money to get a Nintendo at Christmas, but we never missed a meal and there was always enough for company. It was hard work, though, even at six years old. At the time I hated all of that manual labor, but looking back on it now that was when I developed my work ethic and my appreciation for all jobs that involve air conditioning. There's nothing quite like a tobacco field in the peak of August heat in the south to teach you a good appreciation for climate controlled spaces.
School was pretty normal for me. That is to say I was picked on ruthlessly as a kid up until middle school when I used a Prentice Hall literature book to knock the crap out of a bully who kept pulling his books out of his locker onto my head. After that, no one messed with me much.
After high school I went to a local community college, mainly out of a lack of direction and ambition more so than any real desire to attend the program I was in, if I'm honest. Still, the program was pretty cool and I ended up graduating with a degree in laser optics and photonics technology. That sounds really cool, but unfortunately the degree was largely obsolete by the time I got it. I was about ten years too late and shortly after graduating most of the industry switched to high-energy, high-efficiency diode lasers rather than the big gas-tube lasers we had learned to work on and repair.
I ended up going from the community college to a real university where I spent the better part of a decade bouncing around campuses and majors. I studied everything from Electrical engineering and biochemistry to creative writing and philosophy. Literally. Everything. I have more than 200 hours of undergraduate credit and I still don't technically have a bachelor's degree.
After college I moved to Charlotte, NC, where I live to this day with my amazing wife and 3 of my 4 kids. My oldest son lives in Florida with his mom, but we get to see him a few times a year when we fly him up for visits. Even after ten years in this city it is still a little surreal to me. I am the very definition of a small-town country boy living in a big city, and sometimes it does get to me. I miss the wide open spaces, fields, and being able to actually see the stars at night.
So those are the broad strokes of my life. Hopefully that will give you a little insight into who I am and where I come from. As I put more posts up I'll fill you in on some of the more interesting details of my life and the misadventures I've had along the way (by the time I was 10 we were on a first name basis with my orthopedist).
Thanks for reading, and I look forward to getting to know this community in the future.
DW McAliley
Welcome nice to have you here , maybe you are lucky to be joining when steem is at a really low price . When price is low less people are posting and you have a better chance to earn steem . I highly recommend you post a lot and keep on posting . Till you get to at least 15 Steem Power. Don’t give up . I don’t recommend you buy Steem Power but I do recommend you post often till you get to 15 Steem Power. If you can not post go ahead and make sure to vote at least 6 times when you wake up and 4 times when you are going to bed. Don’t forget to get all your friends to do the same! I repeat I would never tell someone to buy 15 steem but honestly for 95% of the people here will only get to 15 if the buy them ! It’s up to you Good Luck with the choice you make
welcome to steemit
Hi DW McAliley,
This is a lovely introductory post, Thank you for taking the time to write the post and say hello to the community!
I am here to help!
I would encourage you to keep posting and comment on others users content to help make a name for yourself and to get the most out of the platform!
Feel free to comment on my content and I'll up vote your comments! Drop me a follow so you can comment a lot and get a lot of my upvotes!
I have upvoted your post!
Luppers :)
Welcome to steemit @dw-mcaliley. Join @minnowsupport project for more help. Checkout @helpie and @qurator projects.
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Upvote this comment to keep helping more new steemians
Send SBD/STEEM to @tuanis in exchange of an upvote and support this project, follow for random votes.
Hi millennial, Juliane here. Welcome to the Steemit community. It's a great platform to make fun and money. Wish you a happy journey here.
Welcome to the world of Steemit!
Watch my stream at
Friendly tip: Steemit works best with Brave Browser
Welcome to Steemit DW
I saw your #introduceyourself and its nice to meet you. I would have liked to See some pictures too.
Blogging thats what its all about on this blockchain. The best part is that you could earn money too.💴💸💰
I never blogged before I just write.
But be carefull with all your passwords, Never give those up !!
For safety tips visit https://steemit.com/steem/@verhp11/safety-first-first-aid-kit-for-steemians-who-are-just-beginning-this-great-journey from Our fellow steemy @verhp11.
The Steemify App I use is great, it is available in the Appstore and free, go cheque it out. I wish you good luck with steeming and I Will See you around🍀
Your value and input is appreciated!
Greetings from Brittandjosie from the Netherlands
Welcome to Steem! Partiko is a fast and beautiful mobile app for Steem and we upvote our users to help them grow! Please feel free to download the Android app here and the iOS app here.
To get more upvotes, please join our Discord server here: https://discord.gg/N7Et97G
Hello @dw-mcaliley. Welcome to Steemit community!!!