Derek was born in New York in February of 1983. He spent his first few years as an Army brat, living in Hawaii for 4 years before his father got out of the military. He lived in several places, but mainly grew up in Virginia, where he currently resides.
Derek spent most of his High School years at Appomattox County High School. He played JV football and Wrestling, but his main stint was with the Theatre Team. He won several awards for his acting ability, including a VHSL state championship ring in 2000. Derek was also elected as a senior class officer in 2000. At 17 years old, he signed up with the VirginiaNational Guard as a Military Police officer. He graduated in 2001.
Derek was shipped off to basic training in June of 2001 at the age of 18. While he was in the middle of his 17 week OSUT training, 9/11 happened. Derek finished his training and graduated from basic in November of 2001. He was deployed later that month to Falls Church/Arlington, VA to guard the National Guard Bureau. He stayed there until August of 2002. After that deployment, he returned to his home in Appomattox where he began attending Central_Virginia_Community_College. In early February 2003 he was again deployed to Kuwait as a customs agent and later Iraq as a Police Officer. He was there until April of 2004. Derek's final deployment was to Louisiana in support of Task Force Defender, a Hurricane Katrina Relief Operation. He was in Lake Charles, Louisiana for a little over a month in 2005. He chose not to re-enlist and left the guard in July of 2006.
While deployed to Falls Church, Derek chose to Trust in Jesus and became a born-again Christian. He made the decision when he was 19 years old. He now enjoys sharing his faith with other people and showing them the Hope that Christ has to offer. Please see below in the External Links Section for some of the Christian Sites he uses.
Currently Derek is married to the love of his life, Jamie. He currently works at and attends Liberty University. He keeps a personal blog at www.dereksdiscourse.blogspot.com