Page 7 - June-2021-Voices

COVER STORY

Meet the 2021 District Champions

Eric Winger, DTM - D7 International Speech Champion

Please share your background history so the reader connects
with you (where born, grew up, moved to Oregon)
I grew up in a farming community in Iowa, largely
spending my days riding my bike, sledding, reading books,
and hanging out on the street corners with my friends. Yes,

you can hang out on street corners in a small town - at least
until Mom calls you.
Eventually, I discovered a minor talent for problem-
solving and got my Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science

from Iowa State University. Chasing tech jobs, I bounced
around the country writing code and screwing my head on
just well enough to find a beautiful partner to marry, Melissa,
then stood idly by while she gave birth to our three kids.

Our family moved to the Portland area in 2005 when I
took a job at a local software company in Beaverton. It had
been a difficult period in our lives as I had been laid off from
my software job the prior summer. It’s hard to feed a family

from the unemployment line so we uprooted from Walla
Walla, Washington and planted ourselves in Tigard, Oregon.
There is a happy ending. I’m still gainfully employed
by the same firm, Melissa and I are empty-nesters, and the

kids still speak to me - when they want money.

VOICES! | MAY 2021 7