As we hire new talents at Bridge, we typically ask a bunch of fun and personal questions that we send out to the entire team in an effort to break the ice, as many other companies do. We thought we could go a step further and also share these with you, our clients and partners, because we appreciate so much the relationships we have been building together over the years.
My name is Carson and I’m joining the Bridge team as a Tier 3 Support Technician. I’ll be helping troubleshoot platform issues, testing/QAing projects, and working toward becoming a go-to resource for the content manager. My mom, her siblings in the US, and many of my close friends are immigrants and through them I’ve witnessed how complex and exhausting the process can be. I’m looking forward to helping make immigration more straightforward and less daunting.
What attracted you to an opportunity in the immigration space?
My mom, her US based siblings, and some of my close friends are immigrants so I’ve seen how onerous the immigration process can be. I was also an employee at a large civil rights nonprofit on the content publishing team and worked on a lot of difficult stories on what immigrants were facing.
What problems in the industry are you most excited to see solved?
I’d like to see the application process become more streamlined and easier to understand given how convoluted the process is currently.
What stands out to you about the immigration process from either your own experiences or that of your family/friends?
The uncertainty. Will your petition be approved, did you submit everything necessary, will the process change, when will it be approved, can someone provide you with more information or an update?
Where were you born?
Bloomington, Indiana. But I grew up in Lakeland, FL, home of Publix Supermarkets and did all my shopping at the one that appears in Edward Scissorhands.
When you were little, who was your favorite superhero?
Michelangelo of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Mostly because he loves pizza and having fun.
What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever eaten?
Spam and cookie butter bao (delicious) or New Haven-style white clam pizza (also delicious).
What is your favorite city you have visited outside the United States?
Montreal. In part because I am a very anxious flier and it’s only about a 2 hour drive from my home. But I also really love Québécois traditional music (I’m even trying to teach myself accordion). It is also very cyclist friendly and has a lot of great food.
If you could visit any place in the world where would it be and why?
Antarctica. I am kind of obsessed with extreme cold and the life that manages to exist in that climate. I want to experience the silence there; long stretches with only your heart beat and thoughts punctuated by whale and penguin calls.
If you forget to plug your headphones in at work on Monday, what song are we most likely to hear?
There’s a good chance it will be a podcast like Ghosts in the Burbs or The Content Mines. It could also be Yo-Yo Ma if I need something without lyrics to concentrate. Or St. Vincent or a playlist with a lot of accordion and fiddle or Fleetwood Mac.
What is the most recent thing you completed on your bucket list?
Becoming really connected to the community I live in. My partner and I moved to Vermont about two years ago and have volunteered to help repair the century old barn at the farm where we buy our farm share and are on the organizing committee for the local library’s yearly gala. We’ve met a lot of our neighbors and just feel like we really belong.
What is your favorite sports team?
I am not a huge sports person but I did have a friend who was really into hockey and I did root for the Pittsburgh Penguins for the season I watched.
What is your most-used emoji?
Party parrot!
What is your favorite app on your phone?
Nikon SnapBridge + Adobe Lightroom. I take a lot of photos and with SnapBridge I can easily sync my camera to my phone and use Lightroom to make quick edits and clean up images easily without needing to download everything to my computer.
If you had your own talk show, who would your first three guests be?
Natalie Wynn, John Waters, and John Cameron Mitchell. The topics would be kitsch, the most impactful piece of media they have interacted with, and most awkward holiday dinner memory.
What is the scariest thing you've ever done for fun?
Moved across the country twice on a whim (from Tampa to Los Angeles and then San Francisco to Brooklyn). Both times were really scary and exciting. I showed up in both cities knowing very few people and without a plan and limited resources and just made it work.
What is your favorite TV show of all time?
The Good Place. The writing and cast are just brilliant. It’s a fun show that also asks a lot of good questions and makes a lot of great critiques of social structures and conventions. Battlestar Galactica (the 2000s one) is a close second.
If you could eliminate one thing from your daily routine, what would it be?
The part where I spend 20 minutes coaxing myself out of my extremely comfortable blanket cocoon.
Besides working at Bridge (of course!) what is your dream job?
Teaching creative philosophy courses. Topics would include horror movies as a reflection of class/social anxiety, the ethics of DRM and right to repair, cooking with Dogen (an analysis of Instructions for the Zen Cook but also cooking vegetarian meals while finding the sacred in the everyday).
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