Balsa

What's in a Name?
Many people know me as Balsa or Balsamodendron Myrrha, for I've held this handle for the better part of a year. (Two years perhaps?) However, I was not always known as Balsa. My original handle is Alex Kerensky, named after my old Battletech Character, Star Captain Alex Kerensky of the Fourth Wolf Guards of Clan Wolf (in exile). During my fourth year with SW:E, I decided I needed a change because of some negative actions I had taken. After over a month of absence from the boards, I came back, and Balsamodendron Myrrha was born.

Some of you may remember that name. I certainly do. It was long and unique, but as much as I liked it, therein lie its flaws. Because of its length, people understandably shortened my name whenever they addressed me, and instead of choosing Balsa as the shortened form, they chose Myrrha. Besides the obvious feminine bent of Myrrha, which isn't necessarily a bad thing if I'm looking into manipulating others, the name is also that of an incenstuous person in Greek mythology. Though that bit of information is usually not known, it was enough for me to file a request for name change.

Enter Balsa. Balsa is short, easy to remember, carries no real contonations, and so it works fine. It also has a nice ring to it, for some reason or another.

(Unfortunately, at the time of choosing Balsamodendron Myrrha as my new name, I had considered Pneumonoultramicroscopicsiliconvolcaniosis, but the server wouldn't allow such a long name.)

The Real Life Balsa
Is there such a thing as Real Life? Apparently.

Anyways, I'm a college student, as many can reasonably fathom. Given that I currently reside in Ohio, one can also make a fairly accurate assumption as to where I attend university. Guess, you're probably right.

My choice of study has changed as often as my forum handle has changed. I originally started on the pre-med track, where I attended an intense 6-year dual-degree BS/MD program. Understandably, I got burnt out on that and transferred schools, where I signed on as a psychology student with the goal of becoming a practicing attorney. However, after only a few months of that, I decided that my true desire really is medicine, so I've made the switch back to the medical profession. Hurray for wasting nearly three years, yes?

What else? As some have surmised, I am Azn, specifically Chinese. That means I have +50 to Gaming and I survive solely on rice. I'm also a level 78 Ninja.

Interests
Would it surprise you that I'm not wholely into Star Wars? You're probably thinking, "Balsa, if this is true, why are you here?" Actually, you're probably not thinking that. Anyways, though I find many, many issues with Star Wars I do enjoy this community and what we've built. The SWE timeline is so much more realistic (lol realism in SW) than what Lucas has made, and it feels so much better. That being said, I guess Star Wars would be listed under my interests.

Related to this whole SWE thing, I do enjoy writing, though I am very unreliable. Every single thread/project I've written in/for has died or been delayed indefinitely. I've been in many Battletech threads with good-ole Pryde2000, but those haven't gone much farther than the third page. (Destiny's Star was a good candidate, but I wrote myself into a corner, so we'll see if I muster up the motivation to continue.) As such, I advise caution if you ask me to join in a thread or story. (Insert :razz: smiley here.)

I try my hand at sketching and I'm learning Photoshop so I can use that to color my sketches. I am also a Battletech fanatic, and I'm starting to develop a very strong interest in the Warhammer 40,000 universe.

Forbidden Topics
Okay, here's some information that is banned from discussion on the SWE forums. I'm going to test to see if this is allowed here.

I'm a Protestant Christian and I'm proud of it. I am a Creationist and I am willing to debate/argue with you to show that Evolution is full of it. (Small warning if you take me up on this: I've studied quite a bit on this subject because I was a devout follower of Darwin, so don't think I'm going to spout Bible crap at you. No, I'll be using biochemistry and physics to prove my point.)  I disagree completely with same-sex marriage and homosexuality. I'm a strong conservative. What else? Politics and religion. Okay, those are covered.

What the Hell is an Ingr'Nysk?
So, under species, I listed myself as Ingr'Nysk. What is an Ingr'Nysk? Well, it's the name I gave to a fictional alien species I created. The race is rather interesting, if I do say so myself. I've got most of the culture and social structures setup, and I'm touching up all the biological aspects. If you're interested, let me know. Maybe I can get them introduced into the MBT or something...

Okay, that's it.