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Holmdel alum and physician draws on hometown roots and real-world experience to restore fiscal health and prepare students for a complex future.
I first moved to Holmdel when I was 10. I was lucky to grow up in Holmdel when it was a top ten school district in New Jersey - the academic standards were high, driven by a strong parent community. Most people don’t get to say this, but some of the smartest and most accomplished people I know in life are my high school friends- they are physicists, engineers, physicians, journalists, architects, and musicians. What we all had in common was a strong educational background that honed us into exceptional critical thinkers and opened us up to new ideas, cultures, and experiences. By the time I graduated from Holmdel High in 1991, I was more than ready for the roads ahead.
I attended Columbia University, where I majored in Japanese. My first job was in the music industry; I worked for a Japanese music production company and played guitar in a number of different bands- rock bands, metal bands, new wave bands- I even appeared once on Japanese TV in the 90s in an R&B band.
That era came to an end with my mom’s illness and death. At that point, I pivoted. I went to Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and became a physician. Careers took us across the country, but about 10 years ago, my wife and I returned to Holmdel with a young family in tow. We came back for one reason: the schools. We wanted our kids to have the same incredible experience I had.
I’ve been watching the Board of Education since I moved back to Holmdel, and I can’t say I’ve seen leadership that honors the legacy of the district I knew. The projected $2.5 million budget gap threatens teachers, transportation, and academic programs, and is proof enough that we need a new direction. Coupled with ongoing teachers’ contract negotiations and significant disparities in academic performance from school to school within the district, there is a lot to address. More generally, today’s students face new challenges. Technology saturates their world, often at the expense of focus, resilience, and social skills. Rising anxiety, attention issues, and classroom disruptions are real. With AI quickly integrating into tech and software platforms, it’s important for schools to develop real working policies regarding its use. And it is vitally important that students are grounded in critical thinking skills first.
As a physician, my approach to problem-solving is clear: understand the issue at hand, look at the bigger picture, and make collaborative, data-driven decisions. I’d bring that same mindset to the BOE. My career is not just about seeing patients, though. I’ve also overseen the implementation of health software systems that involved many competing priorities and stakeholders, and measurable outcomes. These are projects with budgets in the hundreds of millions to near-billion-dollar range, which require multi-year planning, look-aheads, and constant revision. Those experiences taught me how to plan long-term, make tough choices, and deliver results.
Holmdel gave me an unmatched foundation. I learned how to think and succeed here. I learned how to learn here. I don’t think that going to college or medical school added much in those areas; I had it already. That’s why I’m running for the Holmdel Board of Education. This is my hometown, and I’m grateful for what it has given me. I’ve lived the Holmdel story as both a student and a parent, and I’d like to give back.
I’m ready to get our district’s financial health back on track, support teachers, strengthen academics, and ensure that our kids gain the critical thinking skills they’ll need to thrive.
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