Who am I, anyway? A 5-minute autobiography

In which your author divulges too much (and also not enough) personal information in the hopes of better connecting with you, his audience

Originally posted at markwiemer.medium.com on 2023-04-17

Me as a cute baby

I was born with half a heart shortly before the turn of the millennium near Milwaukee, WI, USA, Earth. My childhood in a loving home with loving parents and three siblings was uneventful - I spent most of my time reading, writing fantasy books, playing with friends and with Hot Wheels cars, and generally just imagining. We were raised Catholic, and I went to a private school until we moved to the suburbs when I was about 9. From there, I continued my merry life of making armor out of pizza boxes and accidentally injuring myself. I even started playing Minecraft.

Me showing off my pizza box armor
(She's been emojified because she's not the main character. Also, privacy)

A few years after I accidentally hit myself in the back of the head with an axe, I became a high schooler. In between, I was hit by a major bout of depression that plagues me to this day. I have struggled with many episodes of suicidality, but with help from the aforementioned family, the friends I made along the way, and caring teachers and counselors, I've learned how to cope (and take daily anti-depressants). Otherwise, high school continued like most school: Easy, engaging, boring, and full of socialization.

When high school began, so did my software career. When I sat down to learn Visual Basic, I thought I'd be typing 1s and 0s into a green terminal - I was never more shocked than when I learned we could write code with regular words.

Me posing with my high school forensics trophy

After the girl I loved found someone else, your 16-year-old author started dating someone who ended up raping him. That was not fun. We broke up.

Before the breakup, though, I started my "volunteer career" as a camp counselor. Turning Rivers will forever hold a special place in my heart. The amazing work that program does for so many kids is beyond magical. I am incredibly thankful for their presence in this world. Unfortunately, with The Pandemic That Shall Not Be Named and my move across the country, this "career" was paused after just a few years.


I went through college as most other students did. My magic super brain gave me good grades, I socialized plenty but rarely drank, I developed PTSD from the aforementioned sexual assaults (and some not-mentioned sexual assaults in college), I built my own apps, and I read about the FIRE movement (though I've never identified with it). Just your average college experience. My mom says I dated around* but I maintain I dated asquare. Heh. Moving on.

I knew going into college I would be a software engineer (or industrial engineer, or maybe something else), but it took a few months to realize I loved teaching. Education became my goal, and I'm still exploring more ways to deliver that - with code, with articles, with guidance for teachers and delivering my own lectures to students. This blog has become a great first step. Thank you for reading. Throughout college I was a math tutor, computer science teaching assistant, and coding club leader - all of which were immensely rewarding.

*OK, she said "I dated a lot of girls," but that doesn't lend itself as well to my pun.


I studied abroad in France. I speak French. Kinda. It's kind of a big deal. Kinda. But less importantly, my host mom verbally abused me and I developed a fear of roommates that I didn't get over until I moved to the West Coast of the United States and didn't have roommates. Oh and I climbed a mountain a few times while I was there. In France, that is.


I also learned some things in college. My Catholic upbringing and awesome parents instilled a strong moral sense in me, and after some philosophy and ethics courses I resolved to just plain not deceive people. I think that's wrong. I'm not sure why other people do that. It's not cool.

I tried to learn why other people do that by studying the brain - biology, neurophysiology, psychology, sociology, all that fun stuff. No luck, unfortunately, but I now know a bunch of cool Latin words for brain parts. Or, well, I did. I'm sure my flash cards are somewhere around here…

Most important, of course, was making friends with a wonderful young woman who was a photographer, as it turned out, and getting this great headshot for free:

Me, looking professional in February 2020
I like this shirt because it's full of equal signs. It covers my love of math and social justice! 🤓

I now live on the aforementioned Coast in or around Seattle, working for Microsoft, rock climbing when I can, and doing my best to avoid video games. For over a year, I've spent more on charity then I've spent on myself - no one should starve - but this may not be sustainable. I eat the same dish of tofu with peanut sauce and vegetables nearly every day for some reason, and it wasn't until February of this year that I got into AI.

In late 2021, I suffered a major mental breakdown from depression and took two months off work to recover. During that time I developed a renewed faith in God that I'm still exploring. I go to a Bible study of sorts about every week with a bunch of old Catholic men (including my dad), and I've learned a lot from them, from my family, and from my personal studies.

Lastly, I'm honored to be a Big Brother through BBBS. I've been matched with my Little for over 2 years now and I love playing Magic and Minecraft, watching movies, and just talking about life with him. He's the best.


I hope this helped you understand the person behind the words a bit better. Remember that every article you read and interaction you have is attached to a story - a person - just like this, except a lot different. Isn't that amazing? I think it's pretty neat.