The Island
Launiupoko sits at the base of the West Maui Mountains. Growing up there meant the ocean was always close and everything else was kind of far away. The neighborhood had a dragon fruit farm, a plumeria farm, the Maui Animal Shelter, and Lahaina Animal Farm nearby. Everyone was an Auntie or an Uncle whether you were related or not. The culture was open, warm, and communal in a way that New York genuinely is not. (Not a dig, just a fact.)
I did not grow up wanting to be an engineer. I wanted to be a NASCAR driver, a firefighter, or a pilot, roughly in that order. Engineering came later, as a New York idea, once I saw what the opportunities looked like on this side of the country.
The Move
We left Maui in 2012 when I was 9. Spent close to a year in Florida first, then landed in Mineola, NY in 2014. The adjustment was real. Maui is a place where strangers say hi and everyone kind of looks out for each other. Long Island is faster, denser, and more closed off. People here have their people and that is largely it. It changed how I saw the world but it also pushed me. New York taught me how demanding real work actually is, how to navigate a city that does not stop for anyone, and how to find my own way in a place where no one is handing you anything.
The subway system took longer to learn than most of my college classes, and I am proud of both.
The Fires
In August 2023, the Lahaina fires destroyed most of the town I grew up near. Streets I walked, the harbor, the historic banyan tree, entire neighborhoods. Gone in hours. It was the deadliest U.S. wildfire in over a century. I had friends who lived two houses away from the fire line. My friends were close to it. One lived two houses from the fire line. Everyone got out, but a lot of them ended up relocating to Oahu after. It put the place back on my mind in a way it had not been for a while.
School and Work
BOCES Barry Tech opened the door. That is where computers and IT first clicked for me, and that track led directly into ECE at NYIT. The degree gave me the technical foundation: circuits, embedded systems, signal theory, networking. The jobs gave me everything else. Six years of learning by doing it for real, from EV karts and solar systems to server racks and live A/V events.
My senior capstone project is the most technically complex thing I have built in an academic setting. Outside of school, building and running a full server rack with a DSP and ISP system from scratch is the thing I am most proud of with my own hands.
Time management is still a work in progress. My current schedule is mostly school, work, sleep, repeat. That gets easier after May 2026.
Outside the Work
I code, go-kart, stream on Twitch, make videos on YouTube, and post across TikTok and Instagram. I drive to new places. I listen to my vinyl collection. I video edit. I have won esports tournaments in Overwatch with the NYIT College Esports team and with a smaller squad called Organized Chaos. I am a racer and a competitor. I get into things fully or not at all, whether that is competitive Pokemon, streaming, gaming, or building out my personal projects.
A perfect day off has no set plan. Sleep in, then go wherever the day takes me. Mall with friends, sushi run, vinyl shopping, local spots. Whatever I feel like that morning. I like being spontaneous more than I like schedules on days that belong to me.
Sports are a big part of how I unwind. Snowboarding is probably my favorite thing New York gave me. Nothing like it. I grew up surfing in Maui so the ocean side is always there too. Go-karting is both a job and a hobby at this point. And I race competitively when I can. If it moves fast or requires some skill to not eat it on the first run, I am probably into it.
The People
My father Preston Bloss, COO of Forty North Media, taught me to chase what I want, stay hungry, and think like someone building something. Devon taught me how to take life at a pace that does not break you. And my friends spread across Hawaii, New York, New Jersey, California, Florida, the Philippines, Mexico, Australia, Great Britain, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Puerto Rico, Canada, and Japan have shaped who I am more than most things I can name. Caleb, Cayla, Cal, Jasmine, Pierce, Chase, Ian, Chihiro, Aimee, Luke, Sawyer, Chris, Michael, Kade, Gian, and Mason (yes, Mason, my brother who I am legally required to include) all deserve credit for a lot of this.
What Comes Next
I want a job in electrical, network, or computer engineering. I want to travel and see the places my friends already are. I want to get back to Hawaii and see how the islands have changed. And eventually, one day, I want to own a professional go-kart track and make something that is fully mine.
In the meantime: enjoy the website, get to know me better, and feel free to reach out.
