My Educational Autobiography

I was born in Lima, Ohio in 1998. I have moved several times, but much of my life has been spent living in Wapakoneta and Lima, Ohio. My parents finalized a divorce when I was very young. So young, in fact, I do not remember it, nor the reason why. Nonetheless, it was simply a fact of life growing up within a shared custody system. It allowed me to experience two different lifestyles. I could live in a large city with many people at my school, then on weekends live in a small town. However, this was not a perfect system. It was challenging as a child to only see your father on weekends. I was blessed more than I realized. My parents, while not best friends, always tried to work together as harmoniously as possible for my benefit. I know of

I thoroughly believe they instilled the fundamentals of education in me. I can recall many times they made learning fun, through games and positive reinforcement. There was always a balance between hard work and the reward of learning. The transition to middle school can be rough for some kids. I was one of those kids. Everything was different that first year. A new school, a new style of classrooms and classes, and more kids who seemed to be much older than me. It was the beginning of the process of who I would be in high school. This meant clubs, sports, activities, and the start of hobbies. While, the outcome of my choices in those areas were unknown to me at the time, I reflect and think I made the right decisions. My first club was quiz bowl. I had no idea what this was, but I was selected to take a qualifier test. I remember the cafeteria full of 50 or more kids taking the test, wondering if I would make the cut. I turned out to be among the top 10 scorers. The passion for quiz bowl followed me from 5th grade all the way to my senior year of high school. The next year I had added sports to my repertoire. I started playing flag football and tennis on an organized platform. While playing tennis during the summer, I surprisingly won a doubles tournament in my first year of playing. I continued playing tennis for several years. This takes me to my high school years. This is where I