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Birth
I was born in Davenport Iowa. I lived in a house with my mom, dad, and my two brothers. -
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Past
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Travel Time
My family and I spent the first five years of my life traveling to different states including Illinois, Florida, Missouri, and Tennessee. When we moved back to Iowa from South Carolina, my brother Darin moved out and decided to stay in South Carolina. Here is a picture of my brother and I before we moved. We lived in Iowa for about a year before moving to Colorado. -
Moving to Colorado
We reached Colorado on the 4th of July and it was so awesome seeing all the fireworks as we drove. We had bought a house in Aurora and lived there for less than a month before we got evicted which left us homeless. We were homeless for three years, living out of our cars, hotels, and homeless shelters. Here is a photo my mom took of my brother sleeping, I am out of frame and the girl my brother was lying next to was a homeless teen we met and let live with us for a while. -
Mom
After about a year of being homeless, my mom started abusing drugs which made her very violent towards my brother and me. This lasted for another year before my dad could get complete custody of my brother and me. My dad, brother, and I stayed homeless for the next year until my dad met a new girlfriend and we moved in with her. Here is a picture of me in my first bedroom since I was six. I got a bed as a gift from my dad's girlfriend but other than that I owned nearly nothing. -
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Present
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Start of Highschool
Shortly after we moved into the new house, my brother ran away, he was only fourteen and left back for South Carolina after couch hopping. He started living with our brother who stayed when we moved to Iowa. I became the only child living with my dad and his girlfriend as I started high school. I started to live a normal life again. I joined band, made friends, and got caught up on all of the lack of education that comes with being homeless. -
BTS
I started liking the band BTS my freshman year and it was the best decision ever. Their music is great and they have a lot of content I can watch in my free time, it makes me happy and also gives me something to spend my money on. -
Sweet 16
I had my Sweet 16 and it is one of my most favorite memories from high school, it was over the summer before my junior year. I spent a few days in Denver with my cousin and we did a scavenger hunt around the city. We went to the botanical gardens, record stores, cool shops, and hiking trails, and spent a lot of time in the pool of the hotel where we were staying. Here is a picture of my cousin. -
Braces
I got braces shortly after getting into high school and kept them up until my junior year ended. -
Senior Trip
I plan to go to South Carolina the summer after I graduate to visit all of my family. My mom moved to South Carolina shortly after my brother so I haven't seen her since the 6th grade. I want to visit all of my brothers, my mom, my grandpa, and my uncle -
University
After graduating and taking my senior trip, I plan to go to University. I would like to go to school in Colorado but that may be hard since I want to study Linguistics. I have already been accepted into Nebraska Wesleyan University which has a great Linguistics program so if I run out of options I know I can go there. -
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Future
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Internship
During high school, I did a small internship with Lockheed Martin. When I am in university, I would like to intern with them again but for real this time. The internship I did in high school was part of a program called CSBR, I want to do it on my own this time. -
University
While in university, I want to study abroad. Since my major is Linguistics I feel I could get some scholarships or something to help me learn these languages. Right now I am learning Korean, Swedish, and Vietnamese through textbooks and other self-study material. I want to travel to Sweden and Korea really bad. -
Career Goal
After I graduate with my bachelor's, I can then decide whether I want to advance to a Ph.D., which right now is a big want for me but I understand things change. I am not 100% sure what I want to use my degree for but I think I would like to travel around as a freelance interpreter for Swedish, Korean, Vietnamese, and I also want to learn Mandarin while still in school I just haven't started learning yet since text books are so expensive. -
Retirement
I hope my job will make enough money for me to retire early and still have money saved for my kids and their kids. I want my family to be rich for generations to come that way they don't have to face homelessness like I did. I would also like to spend my retirement years traveling to different countries and learning more and more languages.