User:Kborland

My name is Kevin Borland, and I live in Arlington, Virginia. I was born January 20, 1975 in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Education and Employment
I attended Hardyston Townhip Elementary School in Hardyston Township, Sussex County, New Jersey, and then Wallkill Valley Regional High School, also in Sussex County, New Jersey. I then attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where I studied Physics, from which I graduated in 1997. My thesis was on the properties of a deuteron. After that, I worked for two years at Warner-Lambert, Inc. as an analyst. Missing academia, I decided to return to school and study law at Rutgers University. I graduated in 2002, and then moved to Arlington, Virginia. I worked as a contractor at Raytheon International, Inc. in the international business development department for a short time, and started a book business before I began practicing law. I now run a solo general practice law office in Arlington. Throughout the years, I also took classes as a nonmatriculating student at Boston University (including Eastern Religeons), Universidad Complutense de Madrid (including Spanish History), Golden Gate University (including Thai Comparative Law) and the University of Nairobi (including International Constitutional Law). I've also held short-term jobs cooking, serving and delivering at an Italian restaurant, managing ride ticket sales at what is now the New Jersey State Fair, assembling an automotive store, tutoring Physics and Calculus, escorting students at night on MIT campus, packaging software on an assembly line, and stocking Pepsi products at supermarkets.

Travel
After my junior year of of high school, I won a scholarship to study abroad for a summer in Madrid, Spain. This was my first real international experience, aside from a few earlier family vacations to Canada and Mexico, and the time I spent there changed my life. I studied Spanish history and art, and learned to speak Spanish. As a result of the experience, even while attending school, I took many extended trips to various countries around the world studying different cultures and languages, and international law where applicable. My trips took me to Iceland, Luxembourg, England, France, Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Morocco, the Western Sahara, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Guatemala, Venezuela, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Burma, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. I'm probably forgetting one or two.

Family
While staying in Thailand, I married my wife Thidawan. She is a Thai cook. We have a son Jaras who is in the US Youth Soccer Olympic Development Program. He is currently in the seventh grade.

Hobbies
In my spare time, I play guitar for a semi-popular punk rock band. I also study comparative linguistics, with an emphysis on comparative etymology. I am somewhat of an amateur in the field, but my etymology database is growing rapidly. I've been focusing lately on Thai etymology, as there doesn't seem to be much research on the subject. In addition to English, I am somewhere between conversant and fluent in Spanish, Thai, Russian and Italian. I also speak some German, Greek, Dutch, Danish, Bokmål, Swahili, Japanese and French. My wife and I are both internationally ranked in spider solitaire and I also enjoy the game of reversi. I also do research in genealogy and I am interested in the peopling of the world.

Volunteer Work
In the past, I have volunteered my services to the Clarendon Education Center's REEF program assisting adult students with English as a Second Language.

Board Memberships
I am a former member of the board of directors of MIT's Washington, DC Alumnae Association.

Other Memberships
I am licensed to practice law in the District of Columbia. I am a member of the Zeta Psi Fraternity. I have also held memberships to the Washington International Trade Association and the Harrison County, Ohio Genealogical Society.