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I was born in Chicago Illinois, at Swedish Covenant Hospital. -
This is the timeline about my life so far, and the events that shaped my identity.
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I went to Pre-K at Chapel. I don't remember a lot from Pre-K, but I always remember the walks I had with my mom after I would get picked up. -
A big part about my identity is that I aspire to be an artist. Ever since Pre-K, I've always been into drawing and art in general. I've improved a lot over the years. I still make art today, and it's valuable to me because art is a big form of expression and human communication. -
My family moved out and moved into our new house on Milwaukee, and we've lived here since 2013. -
My first day at Hitch elementary was one of the farthest memories I could reach into. Throughout my time there, I remember first being extremely quiet and not really wanting to talk to anybody, but I'm glad I went to this school because I met some of my closest friends there, and they helped me find myself, though I still carry those introverted traits with me. -
I don't remember when exactly she moved out, but as a little kid I wasn't phased by this because I didn't really know how to process it, but now that I look back on it, I wish we had more time to bond under the same roof. I knew I had to find a way to not be bored without her there, and this early mentality is what made me more introverted, since I lived more as an only child with my sister out of the house, but now we still have a bond, just not as strong as when I was a little kid. -
At Hitch, I didn't have the biggest friend circle, but quality matters more to me than quantity. My friends that I met in 1st grade are really important to me because they helped me get into some of the interests that I still carry with me today, and they also helped me get more talkative throughout my elementary years. We've been through a lot together. -
Now it's a tradition to go to Wisconsin Dells every Summer for my family, but I remember one of my first times going, and I remember first really missing being at home, but I had a lot of fun, and going there and seeing all of the gift shops and attractions were what really got me into liking certain things. There's a lot of gift shops with cool things, and i remember seeing some of the jewelry, which is what got me into wearing it. Now wearing jewelry is a part of my self-expression -
I remember in class, we were all told that we had to quarantine because of coronavirus, and this "week-long quarantine" that turned into about 3 years was a really significant part of my life because it affected how I view things. All of the casualties made me realize that I had to be more careful with my actions, and really value my time. I also became even more introverted/awkward after these 3 years from the lack of connection, but I also got into new interests. -
Around 7th-grade, I started taking karate. At first I was opposed to it, but I really did enjoy it at the end. I stopped taking karate around around the start of sophomore year, but I don't ever regret taking it. I learned a little more to come out of my shell, and to be more disciplined and mature. One of my biggest achievements wasn't the trophies or the tournaments, it was meeting my best friend over there that I still talk to today. We have a really tight bond and we have lots of memories. -
By the time of 8th-Grade, we were already back in school, but the beginning of this year made me realize that I need to step up and really make good expectations for myself, and I became a bit more mature and ready for high school. Throughout the year, I looked back on my school life in elementary, and I realized how valuable it was to be a little kid, and I really valued my time with my friends while I could, as I wasn't sure if I'd see some of them in high school. -
I remember always just listening to whatever was popular, but as I made more friends, I slowly started getting into alternative music such as rock, post-punk, new wave, goth, etc. Older music in general. The special thing to me about this though is that these kinds of music have political values or representations that I really resonate with, so music started to become a big part of my identity. -
In 8th grade, we had a field trip to Washington DC, and although it wasn't the most interesting, I had lots of fun being there with my friends, and just being able to travel in general was something special. Doing this increased my liking for travelling. -
I always thought that I'd be the youngest in the family, but that changed when my nephew, Carmelo, was born. What this meant for me was that I know I have to be a good role model for him as an uncle. He's something really special to me because I see myself in him, and I'm glad I can be a figure in his life. -
I attended my first day at Taft at the Freshman Campus on September 21, 2023. I remember feeling anxious because I wasn't used to a really big building and a lot of people, but I remember first meeting 4 friends there that helped me get through the school year. I'm still very close with those friends, and through them, I met more people which helped build my friend circles. -
In Freshman Year, I met these two friends in my biology class that I still talk to today, but what's really special to me about them is that we became friends despite how drastically different I am from those two. The one thing that bonded us three together though was that we were all Filipino. Growing up, I never really had any other friends that were Filipino or did I know much about my heritage, so having friends I can talk to about that and learn from is something really valuable to me. -
I was really nervous about going to a new campus for high school because I heard all of these stories that happened there, but they all turned out to be exaggerations. This wasn't a big change for me, but this taught me to adapt to changes in my environment and to be more flexible. I ended up having really good teachers in this campus. -
A part of my identity is music, and I love to support smaller, local bands. I remember the first time I went to a band show with my friend was On Jan 2, 2025 for Chicago band White Orchid. As somebody who's in the alternative scene, going to local shows/DIY shows is important because I'm being part of the community. -
I've been downtown many times before, but never with just me and my friend. We visited an art gallery and many other places, but going downtown via train by ourselves was a stepping stone for me into being more independent and learning to get place to place without depending on a ride. We made a lot of memories when we were downtown, and I'd definitely go again sometime. -
At the end of October, me and my friend started running a business to sell jewelry/other accessories that we make, more leaning into alternative fashion. I've always been into DIY and selling these things with a friend is special to me because we earn some money(I'm looking into also getting a job soon) but also to share my craft with other people. This also is our way of helping little by little to encourage people to get into DIY as opposed to supporting overconsumption/fast fashion.