PJ, where did you grow up?

Baltimore, Maryland but I grew up in Lancaster, PA.

What brought you to Ithaca?

When I was looking at colleges I visited here and immediately knew that both IC and the town of Ithaca would be a perfect place to spend my college years.  I was entirely correct.

Congrats on your graduation!

Thanks!

What was your major?

I started out undecided but settled on a psychology major because human behavior has always interested me.

How did you first hear about Comet?

In my freshman year I met a good friend who taught me to longboard (the carving aspect came easily because of my existing passion for snowboarding), and he told me about an awesome local company called Comet. Soon I found a used Crystal Chalice on craigslist and started cruising everywhere.

How did you land this job with Comet?

Last summer I noticed the Comet store in the commons during one of the first days it was open to the public. I walked in and told Kadie how much I dig the company and that I'd love to help out in any way possible while they settle into the new location. Through the following summer, fall and into the past spring I kept in touch, volunteered some hours at the store and tried to be as helpful as possible while casually mentioning how much I would love to work for Comet. Just before my graduation about a month ago, I was offered the job in the factory and I've been working full time for the past three weeks.

How's it been?

It's definitely demanding, but it is without a doubt the best job I've ever had and I couldn't be happier to land such an amazing opportunity straight after college. In the past, my jobs slowly made me sick of the thing I worked with; pizza, Subway sandwiches, and house painting, to name a few. Now I feel unbelievably lucky to have a job that makes me hungry for more. After being around boards all day, I leave work and simply want to skate. What could be better than that?

What do you ride?

I mainly ride a 2011 Ethos 35, but I recently fell in love with the FSM and also got a Takeover to help open myself up to the superfast downhill world in which Comet resides and thrives. I've always had grad school in the back of my mind, most likely continuing the research in cognitive neuroscience that I participated in at IC, but at the same time I've also known that first I have to take a break and live life for a while. So for now I'm doing just that, and loving every minute of it.