I was born in Richland, WA and before I was even one we moved to Raleigh, North

Carolina and stayed there for about 6 years and then moved back to Washington, in the

Tri-Cities area. Richland, my birth city, Pasco and Kennewick, these were the Tri-Cities

where I finished elementary and middle school in a combination of homeschooling co-

ops, private and public programs. My dad worked for a government job dealing with

containment of the nuclear waste made from the “Hanford Project” and in 2008 when

the market crashed he was laid off and he had to look for a job elsewhere. He

eventually found a job as a data analyst here in Portland and so the family followed suit

and so began my high school exodus here. So I’ve moved around a lot, I didn’t even

mention every house or apartment we’ve moved through in our cross country trek, and

ironically given it took a few months, I've lived in each state for seven years. That is until

Oregon, where I’ve lived here for nine years now 9, but it split my life up into very

distinct periods and helped me learn to be much more extroverted than is my wont.

As for my free time I enjoy pursuing the random thought trails that come to me

across the day, learning, solving problems, sports + exercise, making things, consuming

all varieties of media (books/literature, music, YouTube, movies/shows), and especially

connecting with others and connecting with nature. All these things also bring happiness

but some can bring pain as well… I think in my free time I choose to do things that make

me happy even if they are difficult or frustrating because the happiness comes from the

fruit of these labors.

 I would describe myself as a diligent worker who learns best visually and kinetically,

gets concepts quickly and struggles with patience and maintaining attention. Often in

my past I would ace the tests but struggle with homework. I knew the knowledge but I

would just procrastinate on the tedious work and that would affect my grade. I feel a

common misconception I used to struggle with was that I was maliciously distracting

others and didn’t respect the teacher or the content. I don’t like excuses or labels but as

you’ve probably gathered from the above examples I have ADHD and I feel I’ve gotten a

lot better with certain aspects but still I forget deadlines or get overwhelmed with

something and rather than reach out and communicate I just look away and

procrastinate but in reality I’d rather just get over my pride and be proactive. A

significant teacher in my life was a good balance between strict and supportive, they

saw I was bright yet distractible and would firmly set deadlines and remind me of them

and if I missed them they were empathetic yet didn’t just let me walk away without

consequences. She would encourage me to get it done and offer some starting tips as

often that was the hardest part for me but still dock me an appropriate/fair amount.

I love language and I’ve always been told I had a good ear in music and in the

pronunciation of languages. As a child my parents spoke a lot of Spanish, I lived in

Puerto Rico for three months and we helped a young mother by the name of Maria as

she went through pregnancy who spoke no English as a result I feel now I can

understand through body language and certain phrases the general content of a

sentence but my speaking vocabulary is sparse. Through high school I learned French

and came to be pretty good at it, twice I traveled to Europe with my family as my
grandfather lived in a small French town close to Geneva, Switzerland and I got to hear

French naturally and practice it as well. This most recent trip I met a girl in Canada who

was French and we were able to switch back and forth from French to English, her

English being much better than my French luckily, and when in France I left my family to

explore Lyon and Montpellier on my own having to deal with changes in train schedules,

ordering food, or even asking for directions all in a foreign language, it was a blast! The

last addition of my language story is the Asian element, my grandfather is full Korean so

growing up I’d hear that in small moments, we also hosted in my high school days many

Chinese foreign exchange students and from them I learned music to little phrases and

all the way to curse words, Mandarin is so different to any other language I’ve had

experience with and I with my experience right now I could not communicate well at all. I

also know a few phrases in Japanese because I’ve had Japanese friends as well as

enjoy anime. Language to me is fascinating. I think it affects us deeply so far as to even

shape our worldview. I love the challenge and beauty of connecting despite differences

and consistently I’ve found that with an open mind to other languages and cultures I

gain insight into different perspectives and always when inquisitive of their language it

makes them happy and willing to share.