Between having two chemists as parents, a yearning for learning, and a penchant for puns, my destiny was written on the TLC plates from the beginning. My father would bring home simple, yet magical experiments to jazz up our holidays (luminol for Halloween, borax Christmas stars) and my mother would patiently help with my homework and answer my many questions about the world. As I got older, and computers became more prevalent with companies allowing research to be done in the comfort of a home office, I would watch Dad doodle hexagons, dashed lines, dots, and atoms as he sought to answer the organic puzzles presented to him. Occasionally I would be allowed to visit him in the lab (wearing proper safety glasses and the smallest lab coat they could find) where I would see all manner of instrumentation and wizardry at work.All of this culminated in me pursuing scientific and technical classes in high school, obtaining a B.S. at Purdue for chemistry, earning my Ph.D at OSU for Organic Chemistry, returning to Purdue for a Post-Doctorate, then a Purdue-founded, Philip Low research startup, and now Adjutant Solutions Group and Agxelerators as I seek out how the world works. Ionic, covalent, and intermolecular bonds shape everything in my projects and I tap into more than just the world of organic chemistry to suss out the answers. I have a unique pleasure to be able to add in biochemistry (peptides and DNA) and analytical chemistry not usually offered to organic chemists while Transmission Electron Microscopy allowed snapshots of my graduate projects. I've also delved into the world of enzyme assays, PCR, and electrophoresis, LCMS/MS, formulation, and even some animal handling.What used to be magic and wizardry has now become standard procedures and complex mechanisms. In my small almost-third of a century my views have both expanded to include many cultures and experiences and shrunk to nanoscopic wavelengths. I've gone from student to mentor. Yet as I continue to grow, my eagerness to learn and wanton wordplay have remained steady-state.