RIOJANEIRO'S HOMEPAGE

Hello! Welcome to my website! I am glad that you are taking the time to look, so let me start out by telling you a little bit about myself.

BIO : First of all my name is Thomas and I am a University of Texas graduate with a degree in Geography with a minor in Business Management. I plan to take a career in Urban Planning or get an MBA for Airline/Airport Management.

Biography: I was born a little lad up in the hills of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, but came to America when I was about a year old. I grew up going back to Brazil and Germany every summer in High School(my dad is from Germany), so I definitely grew up in different cultures. I speak Portuguese, Spanish, and German, and I LOVE to travel, which is probably why I majored in Geography and enjoy it so much. After life in Brazil, I moved to Kingwood, Texas (a northern suburb of Houston), and grew up there, before moving to Chicago(Northbrook, Ill), and then moving back to Kingwood. I have been heavily involved in High School, college extracurricular activities, and now post-graduate activities. I am also an avid runner, and have taken first place awards in my age group for the Houston, Austin, and Rio de Janeiro marathons. I have completed 4 marathons to date.

Former Campus Involvement: UT Shuttle Bus Transportation Director for 2002-2004, along with the President of the UT Geographical Society. I was also involved in Student Government, Recycling Task Force, and the Environmental Center . I served as Chair of the UT Shuttle Bus Committee, Vice-Chair for Capital Metro CSAC committee, and served on the E-Bus, Bike Committees, and Parking and Traffic Committees.

Current Community Involvement : I participate with the City of Phoenix Citizen's Transit Commission as well as the Phoenix Aviation Advisory Board.

Hobbies: I am an avid runner, and run about 30-40 miles a week. I think it is a perfect way to stay in shape, relieve stress, and just experience the outdoors and area around you. I am truly fascinated by mobility, specifically public transit/airlines in general, and how people move from one point to another through different patterns throughout networks. I involve myself with issues of route planning, spatial analysis, and operations research. I'm also interested in Urban development and new urbanism as it reshapes many of America's cities.
I am truly fascinated by mobility, specifically public transportation, or transportation in general, and how people move from one point to another through different patterns.
I also LOVE to travel. It would be hard to me to mention a place that is my favorite place in the world, but certain places in Brazil, along with Europe and the Western U.S. definitely come in the top ten.
I also love cars. I am a proud owner of a 2001 Solar Yellow Nissan Xterra SE, which I am damn proud of. I worked for it collecting up all my pennies and dimes(well, not literally), and bought it new in '01. My friends still say I throw alot of $ into it, despite me never driving it. Some of my favorite cars are Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Mercedes and Volkswagen.
I love the Internet too, I admit. I am amazed at just how much technology is out there, and how much computers can do nowadays. It is amazing the expanse of information that can be accessed via the Internet, along with all of the things you can do on the Internet. Music is also a large hobby, and I cannot go anywhere practically without music. I own alot of portable music devices, and I go through alot of them too, because they tend to get used quite a bit. I also love to read, draw, and look at maps(yeah, I know call me a geek). I guess its just one of those Geography things. I'm also a strong environmentalist and actively recycle, utilize public transit regularly, buy organic, among many other things. I'm a person in development, open to the experiences of others and their likes/dislikes.

My Personality: I have to say something, I am a very open person. I am very honest, and I will very much tell people when I am sad, enraged, confused, etc. I dont like being left out, and I hate people that dont accept others for the way they are. I love to talk, and if someone ever has a problem, I really dont mind talking to them, no matter what time, because I believe that communication is key, and I know sometimes people need to let out feelings. I'm up to meeting new folks all the time.

My Music: This is a tough one. I like practically every type of music out there, except for hard rock and heavy metal. If I were to list all of the artists that I would listen to, it would be a very long list! I like Pop, Rock, Dance, Country(most, not all), Tejano, Brazilian, Latin, Classical, Jazz and many other types. I guess any type of music with a jungle beat, as my friends say, is music for me! Music to me is like my lifeline, I cannot function for more that about a day without turning up the stereo, literally.

My job: I am currently employed with US Airways here at Phoenix-Sky Harbor International Airport as an Instructor. The airline industry has enabled me to continue to travel to far off places, and I am extremely thankful to have such the opportunity, especially in such a turbulent industry. Many people admire having the kind of life I have travel-wise, and I can't describe how thankful I am for such an opportunity. I used to work for Delta Airlines as well in 2001, but after 9-11, that all changed and I was forced to find another job. I was initially very reluctant to work at America West, since it was my only hope in such a bleak industry. I began my career in the Austin, Texas field station and have since moved on to Phoenix, home-base of the airline after working in the operation on the ramp, ticket counter, and inflight. Later on, America West merged with US Airways to become the nation's 5th largest airline serving Europe. Latin America, the Caribbean, Hawaii, Alaska and Canada. Since I want to get involved in the transportation industry in the future, this is the perfect job.

I have a strong belief that anyone who wants to excel in any business/organization must know the business from the ground up. Too many times I am dissapointed in today's management that simply don't understand the values of their own employees and what goes on at their level. I am amazed what I learn on a daily basis on what people value and I wish to further enhance the vitality of the business as I move up. I am proud of what I've accomplished since I started and I hope that every day that I go to work, no matter in what position will be a positive learning experience.

My travels: Domestic: California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Hawaii, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, Nebraska, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Delaware.

International: Mexico (Tamaulipas, Coahuila, Chihuahua, Sonora, Jalisco, Baja California Sur, Sinaloa, Colima, D.F.), Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti-French Polynesia, Japan, Costa Rica, Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Uruguay, Peru, Chile, Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Austria, Luxembourg, Czech Republic, Belgium, Portugal, Canada, Switzerland, Liechtenstein.

If you want the specifics of where I have been, I can gladly rattle on about my travels!

Anyways, that is all for now, I will update this page later in the future. Thanks for visiting!

Goals :

-learn/network about Urban Planning/Transportation aspects on the side in Arizona.

-participate in more volunteer activities in the community.

-find a boyfriend that I can share my benefits with!

-ultimately prepare for a analyst job with the airlines, while investigating personal research on topics relating to airlines (hub and spoke efficiency models, market analysis, fleet profitability/allocation, marketing experimentation/brand recognition)

-be happy with life, wherever or however that may be.