The True Tom 

After sorting through several About Me advise pages, I discovered the pattern that they all adhere too. Keep it short and sweet. This is the best strategy to secure employment because you do not want to bore a potential employer with your life story. Tell them a little bit about yourself, where you went to school, and a few hobbies. That does not reveal anything about someone's real character. This is formulaic bullshit. I want my employer to look at me as a human, not a cog in the system. That means they must do their research to ensure that I would be an adequate fit. Believe me, I will have conducted my own research on their enterprise. Time is too precious to be wasting it in the wrong place. I think of it as investing in a stock, much research must be performed before you successfully secure it. This is precisely why I am offering a more in-depth look into my life below:

There were an estimated 358,892 babies born on September 20th, 1996. That faithful Friday, a baby named Thomas Austin Stewart was welcomed into this wild world. Obviously, I have no recollection of this exciting event. My earliest memories start in a tiny duplex located in Euless, Texas. All I remember is adventuring around the neighborhood with the guidance from my brother or a parental unit. My curiosity was rampant as a youngling. Exploring and asking questions was my favorite pastime. Why I was traveling at this age is beyond me, but there is a strong recollection of my voyage to Italy. The ancient architecture and cobbled roads stood out significantly. All I wanted to do was follow the rainbows and avoid the stinking water (sparkling water). My palate has come along way since then. Shortly after our trip, we moved to a different part of Texas. Jeff and Lori purchased a humble abode in Colleyville inside one of the most unique neighborhoods imaginable. It was an odd mix of farmhouses, regular-sized homes, and maisons. Many of the neighbors had farm animals. There were horses, donkeys, zebras, goats, peacocks, guinea hens, chickens, rabbits, and much more. I accredit my love for animals to this enjoyable environment. At this time in my life, I must have had a multipersonality disorder. Often I would introduce myself as Jackie Chan, Awhatdahay (my Native American name), Legolas, or Link. There was no Thomas yet. Despite this odd quirk, I managed to make some friends in the community. The neighborhood gang was always up to some sort of shenanigans. We snuck around to play with the animals, ding dong ditched, had lemonade stands, played all the sports, shot each other with airsoft guns, and sat in front of whatever gaming console was popular at the time. Jeff and Lori worked arduously to support my brother and me. This is where the Rojás family came in. Laura was our primary babysitter, and she had two boys the same age as Collin and I. Going to their house was one of my favorite things because the place always smelled sensational. Alex was my age, and he suffered from Spina Bifida, but that did not stop us from being best friends. This was around the time that school was starting for me. I distinctly remember Jeff having to carry me out of his truck to get me into the classroom. Regardless of my initial dislike, my schooling was satisfactory. Following the rules was a must for me, and I usually stayed out of trouble. Learning came easy to me, but I never really applied myself (not in comparison to now). Between the Bransford Elementary squad and my neighbor friends, I felt like a pretty popular dude. My time in Texas was terrific, and I would not change a thing. The summer going into fifth grade is when everything changed. Jeff and Lori decided it was time to return to the homeland. Just like that, we packed everything up and started our new life in Des Moines, Iowa. I was familiar with Iowa because we would drive thirteen hours to Davenport for Christmas. This is where Jeff and Lori grew up, and their parents still resided here. The move was devasting to me, I had to start fresh, and I loved my life before. Almost right away, I met a family down the street known as the Wards. Davis was my age, and we became best friends fairly quickly. His older brother Max was in the middle of directing a film, and they needed a villain. This was my first major movie role, and we spent the summer perfecting this masterpiece. There was even a premiere, and I will never forget how exhilarating it felt to be on the silver screen. After this summer, I was the new kid at school, and this is no easy task. Davis did his best to immerse me in his friend group. At first, I felt like an outsider, but it did not take long for everyone to warm up to me. Concluding class, we would rush home to play GTA San Andreas or Halo 3. Those were the good days. We were definitely too young to be playing these games, but everyone did it. After a year at Greenwood Elementary, my anxieties were anguished. Iowa was starting to seem promising. This brings us to the next phase of my life, middle school. As awkward as middle school can be, I am happy with my experience. Callanan Cougars all day baby! This school was a big melting pot, and I loved all the diversity. I had always been a huge basketball fan, but this is when I was obsessed. Outside of the classroom, I was working on my game. You could find me balling at the downtown YMCA or out at Kingdom Hoops. This was hands down the number one AAU team in Iowa. I worked my way up to the B team of this program. That is a significant accomplishment considering there were some grades that had teams all the way down to E. The final year of middle school was legendary in my eyes. Both the basketball team and track team went undefeated, and I made countless friends. My favorite middle school memory is undoubtedly when our 4x1 won the Drake Relays, proving ourselves as the fastest eight grade team in the state. I was the slowest of the squad but still counts. Up to this point, Davis and I had played our fair share of video games. We were still athletically inclined, but Davis' dad strategically switched us to a new obsession. I will never forget the day Andy took us to the Y and showed us how to lift weights properly. Thank goodness for that because we showed up to high school ready to contribute to our respected sports programs. Now we move to the high school portion of this story. There is not a single thing that I would change about this part of my life. I will rep those Roosevelt Roughriders forever. We had a solid poker squad that met too frequently. There were many amazing nights spent in front of the box. I had an amazing girlfriend starting my sophomore year. My sports team were successful, and I earned captain in both track and cross country. To top it all off, I was senior class president. Getting good grades was the last thing on my mind, but I still managed to maintain a respectable GPA. Needless to say, I did not have much to complain about when it came to high school. Jeff has four siblings who attended Iowa State University, and Lori has six siblings who all attended the University of Iowa. My college decision came with some serious stakes, but my choice was clear after visiting Iowa City. My freshman year of college was the classic fuck up. I was not prepared for all this freedom and Tom management. It did not take long to address this issue and readjust my cumbersome course. The second year of university was much better. I left the dorms behind and rented an ancient house with some dorm mates. Having this place was a breath of fresh air, and achieving success came much simpler. My sophomore year was spent playing catch up. At one point, I was working three jobs and juggling eighteen credits of classes. The grind was hard, but I deserved it after my freshman year fuck up. This was about the time I changed my major from Business to Journalism. After a few journalism courses, I changed my major to something I was truly passionate about, Cinema. After four years of schooling, I was three credits shy from graduating on time. Expecting to be around for one more fall, I needed to secure a job and a new living situation. Somehow I found my dream job at a French-Moroccan creperie. The owners were heading home to Morocco for a family emergency, and I had to quickly learn to keep the restaurant rolling. It did not take long to reach sous chef status and to call this cozy cafe my own. When they returned, we immediately became family and spent much time together outside of work. Suddenly COVID-19 took the world by storm and sent the restaurant industry spiraling. Even though I was officially off the payroll, that did not stop me from coming in every single day. The big boss and I cleaned, remodeled, repainted, rebranded, and revamped the shop. We did not sit around and mope about the bad luck that had forsaken us. After about five years, it was time to leave Iowa City. This was the end of the trial run and the start of my adventure to adulthood. Proceed to the Tom Tracker tab to continue this eccentric escapade.

Photos of Me

I have never been a fan of taking pictures. However, I was able to salvage a few decent ones from various points in my life. For your viewing pleasure, it has been compiled chronologically (more or less). Enjoy!