Editing Ross Ulbricht (section)

==Background==
Ross Ulbricht grew up in Austin, Texas. He was a Boy Scout, attaining the rank of Eagle Scout. He attended Westlake High School in Austin, graduating from the school's honors program in 2002, taking several AP classes.

Ulbricht attended the University of Texas at Dallas on a full academic scholarship, and graduated in 2006 with a Bachelor of Science in physics. He then attended Pennsylvania State University, where he was in a Master of Science program in materials science and engineering with a Master's thesis on crystallography. By the time Ulbricht graduated, he had become interested in libertarian economic theory; he adhered to the political philosophy of Ludwig von Mises, supported Ron Paul in his 2008 election, promoted agorism, and participated in college debates to discuss his economic views.Ulbricht graduated from Penn State in 2009 and returned to Austin to work as an engineer, but decided not to pursue it as a full-time job. He tried day trading and started a video game company; both ventures failed. He eventually partnered with his friend Donny Palmertree to help build an online used book seller, Good Wagon Books.