Where Are They Now? — Kenneth Nelson

I've been working for several weeks now on this "Where Are They Now" assignment that we were given. Hopefully this eighth draft is good enough to post.

After high school I floundered around at BYU for a few years trying to figure out what to do. My initial plan was to be a physics professor like my dad, or maybe an astronomer, so I pursued that for a few years. I stuck with it long enough to get a Master's degree in physics-something that comes in handy every time I need to figure out the chemical composition or the mass
of a star.

Eventually I realized that I wasn't good enough at physics to get a job in that field. I also started thinking that even if I did get a job it might not bring in enough money for me to indulge my expensive tastes. So I did what everyone does when they can't figure out what else to do: I went to law school. That lead to a job at a small patent law firm in Mesa, Arizona, then to a job at a larger law firm in Phoenix, and now to a job doing patent work at Intel, which I really enjoy.

While still living in Provo and going to BYU, I started dating Sheila Cobbley (PHS Class of '89). We met each other when she was in second grade and I was in third grade at Wasatch Elementary School (motto: today's good students make tomorrow's great citizens") and I'd had my eye on her ever since. We got married in 1995. Sheila and I live in Queen Creek, Arizona (near Phoenix) with our four children: Andy (10), Jack (8), Katy (5) and Lucy (3). Here we are in our pirate gear for Halloween last year.

During the last 20 years I've accomplished everything I wanted to except for two things, which I'm now focusing all my attention on: (1) get the high score on the Brick Breaker game on my wife's BlackBerry; and (2) master the Expert level on Guitar Hero.

Amy, I will definitely be attending the reunion so please have the Provo High helicopter waiting for us at the airport-—the green and black one with the snarling bulldog decals and the leather recliners.

See you soon!