Derek was born in Marietta, Georgia and was raised alongside his older brother Dylan by his parents Mark and Cathy Demyanek. After excelling in academics and his main sports of football and wrestling at Lassiter High School, he received a congressional appointment to the United States Air Force Academy. There, Derek continued to excel in his studies while pursuing a degree in astronautical engineering and competing on the school’s boxing team and competitive skydiving team with the dream of one day becoming a NASA astronaut. Following graduation, he was commissioned as an Air Force officer and selected for pilot training. After receiving his wings, Derek was assigned to fly the C-17 out of Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, where he upgraded to instructor pilot, completed a combat deployment to the Middle East, and completed a Master’s degree in Space Systems Engineering from Johns Hopkins University. During that time, he started to experience his first true struggles with mental health. Still, he kept trying to do his best professionally while pursuing his goal to reach NASA, even while his personal life became more and more difficult. Derek was then assigned to Texas to upgrade to instructor pilot in the T-6. While there, things came to a head, and Derek made the difficult and life-changing decision to open up about his internal struggles with his supervisors, commanders, and ultimately the Air Force mental health clinic. That decision resulted in a disqualification from flying, and a long road to pursuing a new career as an aerospace engineer. Today, Derek works as an aerospace engineer in Ogden, Utah, and pursues his love of the outdoors through mountaineering and BASE jumping.