My name is Christian Stage & I’m one of the new Sustainability Coordinators hired by Deric Gruen.
In the past I have been a communication & navigation technician on the KC-10A refueling aircraft in the US Air Force. The best thing I ever did in my life was join the US Air Force. The worst thing I ever did was get out. I’m not going to make up stories & say I was a pilot or anything; all I did was fix ’em when they got down on the ground but I’ll tell you, working on a big jet plane was the coolest thing in the world. I spent a few hours in-country so I’m considered a Gulf-War vet (no, I am not young); we (the US military) kicked butt so I guess that’s something to be proud of.
Another cool job I’ve had was as the hot-food expeditor at the Microsoft kitchen in Redmond. They brought all the hot-food to me (10,000+ entrees/day). I loaded the very hot pans (with bare hands – gloves just slowed me down) into the appropriate insulated boxes, crossed them off my list, repeating the process hundreds of times every morning. We did over 2,000 lbs. of turkey on Thu. twice a month. Once all the pans were properly directed & all the food had been prepared me & the 5 drivers under me drove off to the appropriate buildings to deliver the food (there were 25 cafes on campus at the time – I know they’ve grown considerably since then, it’s been a long time). That job was so hectic & demanding! I loved it!
I feel I have a lot of experience to bring to this position & I hope to help make a big difference here at BC. I enrolled in the Sustainable Business Practices curriculum in Spring 2011 & quickly realized this was the field for me. I’m really looking forward to working with all of you in sustainability & am looking forward to seeing everyone I know around campus as well as making new friends.
Bellevue College is an incredible place; I want to give a shout out to everybody who went to Camp Casey, 2011. Had I missed out on that experience I would’ve had no idea what an incredible place this is. I look forward to seeing all of you on campus & making a difference through our sustainability efforts, not just here on campus but on the world at large.
Hey! I almost forgot: I ride my bike to campus (& all over the place, really, it is my primary form or transportation). In addition to bike riding I love to hike, I am the consummate outdoorsman. Bird watching is pretty cool to me (depending on the bird) but I’m no ornithological-geek. Astronomy has been a life-long passion of mine (Astronomy was my first college course, when I was still in high school). Photography is another interest of mine – I’m hoping to get a decent camera sometime soon. Travel, in any way, shape or form is a passion of mine, I think my joy of hiking & biking is an extension of that – I have an old Ford Ranger that I put 128,000 mi. on driving all over the country (Yosemite, Yellowstone, the Pacific Coast Highway – the WHOLE Pacific Coast Highway) too many places to name. Most important, I live life for the moment – if my studies are getting to be too much & it’s sunny outside I’ll slap on my rollerblades & roll around the neighborhood for 30 min. or so, if I can spare more time I’ll go for a bike ride, if it’s raining outside I’ll watch one of the shows I’ve saved on DVR (Through the Wormhole, Naked Science, NOVA, the World News) it’s almost always something science related. The most important thing in life is to remember yourself & enjoy life, some people forget that – do something for yourself every day, even if it’s something small, never forget that YOU come first.
Last Updated July 21, 2011