Gallipolis, Ohio
Growing up in rural Ohio came with a plethora of character development. Constantly challenging the status quo and sticking out amongst the rest has shaped who I am today and the person I continue to evolve into.
Growing up in a military family we moved around a bit. In 2013, we landed in southeast Ohio (where my mom is originally from). It was something new. A town with a population of just about 3,000 people within the city limits: so small, it’s considered a village.
Small, rural towns in the heart of Appalachia have a reputation. An abundance of poverty, drug use and overall small-mindedness. But that didn’t necessarily take away the charm of being in a tight-knit community. When I reflect back on the eight years I spent there throughout public schooling, I grew to understand what it really meant.
From the get-go, I stood out. I was well-traveled and had parents with successful careers. Comparatively flamboyant to other boys I grew up around, I scared people easily. But that never stopped me. I found my group(s), stayed heavily involved in and outside school, and built my own safe space(s).
When time allowed, we traveled as far and as wide as we could. From the age of nine months, we began visiting Disney World yearly. It was a safe place—a second home. When not visiting Disney parks, we would find ourselves in places like Alaska, the Caribbean islands and farther soaking up as much culture as we could to perpetually enhance our lives.
Throughout the years I lived in southeast Ohio, I tried my best to leave it a better place than I found it. Upon graduating high school in 2021, I felt I had done my duties in a place where I was always an outlier. Growing up in a small town, a village even, showed me what character development truly comes with in new and unfamiliar places. As of early 2022, my family relocated to Houston, Texas–somewhere brighter and somewhere bigger.