Me (circa 2008)

I’m a 23 year-old living in Cambridge, MA.  I graduated from MIT Engineering in 2009. I’m a writer and entrepreneur.  I was born in Edgewood, Kentucky and grew up in the Appalachian Mountains of eastern Kentucky.  My father was a missionary doctor for 12 years.  My mother a nurse.  I have 5 siblings.

I’m an entrepreneur. That’s the best way to describe myself.  However, if you’re not an entrepreneur, that requires some explanation.

I’m intensely creative.  I have ideas on my mind all the time.  This was frustrating until I learned how to focus and start using my creativity to my advantage.  It takes time for everyone to learn how to harness their natural abilities.

Torrent Falls

I like making things.  This is another side of creativity.  Finding enjoyment in making something of value is a corollary.

I like challenges.  Challenges are important.  Challenges get the best out of us all. And we should all be shooting to reach our greatest potential.

I can be a little cocky.  Cockiness tempered by humility is a good thing.  And if you do anything differently or in new ways, as entrepreneurs commonly do, you get enough criticism to ensure humility.  Without a dash of cockiness, fear stops us from blazing the trail.

I am big on communication.  So many problems are due to poor communication.

I value my time. A LOT.

I really enjoy meeting new people.  Getting to know people is a good use of time.  (Shoot me an email at KVogelsang11*at*gmail.com).

I’m an athlete. I like to compete, and I like to be very good at what I do.  It’s about performance.

I play pick-up sports whenever I can now, but I previously was a varsity athlete.  Now that I’m a “has-been”, I live vicariously through my younger brother who now plays defensive end at Wake Forest.

At MIT, I played varsity football and basketball.  On the football team, I played wide receiver.  I earned all-conference honors and finished as an all-time leader in receptions and receiving yards, finishing my career with 124 receptions and 1,740 yards.

In high school, I played varsity football, basketball, and ran track. Our basketball team was nationally ranked, so I got to play against guys like Rajan Rondo, Josh Smith, and Louis Williams.  Our football team was one of the best in the state (both my quarterbacks, Justin Burke and Jacob Doss, went on to play division I football).  I earned a spot on the all-state team in Track & Field.

Athletics was an important part of my education.  Athletics, not classrooms, prepared me for MIT.  The role of athletics in education is completely undervalued.

I study the human condition constantly. Consequently, I have a strong interest in other areas….

I have a strong interest in Media, particularly Digital Media. Media is the avenue for distributing information, ideas, and insights.  It’s an exciting time in the “Digital Space,” especially now that millions of people interact heavily online.  This is the space where I currently work and do all of my thinking.  The Digital Space boils down to the interplay of the human condition with the new technologies we have developed.

One day I will play a big role in improving education. There are so many opportunities for improvement.  Outside of athletics, I feel I wasted a lot of time in school.

One day I will spend more time studying neuroscience and play a role in this field. Neuroscience-related technologies will cause changes that will be completely transformative.  This will be the final frontier for Kevin Vogelsang.

It’s all about the story.