I am a writer, a trained counselor, and one heck of a resilient individual. I grew up in public housing with strong school and church influences, coupled with influences which were abuse, violence, mental illness, and despair. I decided to not be a statistic, so when I heard of a program offering poor students private school scholarships in the 9th grade, I applied. I got into a school hundreds of miles away with no prior experience or knowledge and no mentor. I completed three years there and applied to colleges on the West Coast. I became an emancipated adult. I graduated from UCLA. I had no adviser or mentor, so I slipped up and moved around various fields because I heard of opportunities and I was free. had no mentor or family member advising me. I loved working as a News' Reporter and Editor. After working in the field, I wanted a degree in the field and attended Columbia University. Once news' jobs had stability issues and work dried up for me, I gravitated to education and later to GWU. Life was never perfect, but one thing I never lost were hope, faith, and resiliency. Hope without action means nothing so I forever move forward.
