Destined for Success.

“You can’t understand the feeling unless you’ve been through it,” I said as I reminisced back to what felt like the beginning of the end, but faith and realization brought me to be who I am and who I could be, because no one can be a better me than me.

Around second grade I moved to Olympia from various of places and attended Hansen Elementary. “I remember thinking when I first got there was, no one looks like me,” It was a new environment that I knew I was going to struggle with being who I am. Moving here changed my perspective on who I could be. I started to get into more cardio activities related to running mainly.

Running is what I do, it speaks to me how a song speaks words, “Hansen brought out what I felt like I couldn’t be because of who I was and what I looked like if that makes any sense,” I look back on those memories and how that impacted me to want to be more active and aware of the outside world.

When I look back I am thankful for what Hansen made me love, the joy of running. I began running when I first came to Olympia when I was 8, “They did these daily runs at recess every recess and every lap you would run, you would get a stamp,” I laughed as I said that because that was the beginning of the soon to be the end.

Around my sixth grade year I joined a club track team called the Flying Aj’s, “When I ran… no when I run I feel like me, the real me, the me that I have a hard time showing.” I was nervous to join the team with kids of all ages varying from 11-18 and it was intimidating. In that moment I realized that everyone around me looked like me, ran like me or better and that realization hit and I fell in love with being the best runner I could for myself, “I ran not to be the best but be the best I COULD be instead of what I was forced to be like at school and home,” running changed those perspectives of the way I thought about myself going forward.

Still being the outsider of every place I live makes it difficult. As I entered high school I told myself that I would be different the real, true me and that didn’t seem to happen. “He is a once in a lifetime person that if I didn’t meet him when I did, I would be in a grave or locked up,” Dean of Students, Mr. Grimm helped me to want to start believing in myself again.

I was homeless majority of my high school years which made me have to give up most of the things I enjoyed which included track, helping others in need, etc. This made me angry/frustrated with the world, thinking I couldn’t be successful or have the things I want in life. “I felt very alone and still do but that is my motivation,” Because of this incident it
shaped me to look at life differently, open my eyes and realize what I do have.

These circumstances made me stronger than I thought I could be and because of that I know I will succeed and continue to succeed. I plan to be more than I set myself, I plan to go to a two year college and transfer to UW Tacoma and then become a social worker.

I saw what others had to go through including myself, “Traveling makes me feel like I can escape reality and put myself in others perspective.” I will travel around the world every chance I get. The struggles I have been through have taught me a lot including to be grateful for what is around me and for myself, that everyone is perfect in their own way. “I just really appreciate what adults like teachers, my parents, admin, friends parents they have gave me so much advice that it will help me in the long run rather than being lost.