An Introduction
Hi, I'm Shaun Burriss (sometimes known as Mxblah or some variation thereof when it's already taken), and this is the part where I say goodbye to the last vestiges of my online anonymity.
Anyway, the part after that (this part) is where I try and summarize myself in a handful of easily-digestible paragraphs. I'm not sure I can be summarized that quickly, but I'll give it a go.
Pre-College
Like most people, I was a kid once. Unlike some people, I grew out of it.
I grew up in the suburbs around Appleton, WI, and moved to Minocqua, WI, midway through high school. This was a rather traumatic experience at the time, but it forced me to make new friends and discover new interests. Also I got my two cats as a moving present so I think it was a net win.
After high school, I went to Michigan Tech for college, up in the terminally-snowy Houghton, MI. I spent four and a half years in Houghton, working towards the reward of finally getting out of there and moving back to civilization. Oh yeah, and the degree that I eventually attained in 2020.
University
At Michigan Tech (or to use its full name, Michigan Technological University), I majored in Mathematics Secondary Education with minors in Chemistry Teaching and Media Productions. I had originally started as a Physics major, but as many students do, I changed my major five times before I ended up with one I liked.
I worked for the University's IT department during my entire time at Tech, and I learned a lot about computers, system administration, being a manager, and other neat things. It's due in a large part to that experience that I ended up self-hosting this website, which is not affiliated with Michigan Tech.
Post-Univeristy
After graduating in the middle of the Covid pandemic, I applied for a full time position at MTU and was hired as a Windows System Administrator there. As of March 2022, I'm still there gaining experience (and money) while getting to train my own student employees (to make some use of my teaching degree).
Why didn't I use my teaching degree (and certification) to become a high school teacher like I had initially planned? Why did I go into IT instead? Well, the first reason was trying to teach during the pandemic and seeing exactly how much work it is. The second is, as you might expect, the compensation. As a system administrator hired directly out of college, I made more than some veteran teachers of 20 years. Money isn't everything, but it sure is some thing.
Cats!
Cats are great, full stop, end of sentence. Dogs can be good too, but I prefer cats as they're lower maintenance, just as loving, and are generally smaller (yes I know you can get tiny dogs and enormous cats). I have two cats, pictured here. Pewter is the fluffy one on the left, Emmy is the striped one on the right. They're basically the best. More pictures of them can be found in the Media link in the navigation bar.
Things I do
I like to do things. Most of the content on this website will involve things I like to do (what a surprise)!
As a quick primer, here is a list of my interests, including a link to their pages if they have one.
- Computers - This one's obvious. Coding, sysadmin-ing, and other computer-y things can be found in the Tech link up top.
- Gaming - Yeah, yeah, it's stereotypical. But video games are more than just a computer nerd thing. They tell great stories and can be profoundly moving, important, and helpful. (No direct link yet - 2018/11/21)
- Education - Another one from the top bar, education is my major and will be my career. Helping others learn and do great things is one of the joys of teaching, and I hope to in some way share that.
- Writing - I love stories, both telling them and reading them. While a story can take the form of whatever medium it chooses (see Gaming, above), I tend to prefer the written word when I'm creating them. My better stories will be posted under the Work/Stories link.
- Digital Art - I've wanted to be able to draw since I was young, but it wasn't until after graduating from college that I decided to actually get up and learn how to do it. I bought a tablet and started sketching in October 2021, and I'm getting to the point where I might start sharing some of my work here. Not quite yet though. (No direct link yet - 2022-04-09)
- Filmmaking - Another way to tell a story is through video, and I love making films. I don't tend to watch them as much, but the process of creating a film is a lot of fun. These will be under the Media link. (No direct link yet - 2018/11/21)
- Photography - "A picture is worth a thousand words," right? Photography is a lot of fun too, and some really neat images can come out of it. Again, my better work will be under the Media link. (No direct link yet - 2018/11/21)
Social Media
I'm active on the internet outside of this website. I know, it may be hard to believe, but it's true. Below is a list of social media accounts I own. I don't really post to them much (if at all) but at least you know that if it's not on this list, it's not me.
- YouTube - I post occasional animations, short films, or miscellaneous other things. Maybe more things in the future; who knows?
- Twitter - As far as I'm aware, the only real activity on this account is from when I was trying to be a YouTuber and auto-posting all my terrible Minecraft videos. Those are all private now, but you can stalk the titles if you really want. I don't use this account basically at all anymore.
Yeah, that's basically it. I have a reddit account, but I've literally never posted so I'm not putting that on here. If Discord counts as social media, I've got that too but that's more of a chat medium. I don't have a lot of social media. Never really saw the point.