As I walked down the hall of my new school, I immediately felt my insecurities flood my body. I had started a new school, with new people, new teachers and a whole new set of problems. My dad is a First Lieutenant in the Marine Corps, so we moved a lot. I had stayed in my last school for four years, so I had a bunch of friends. Now my family moved across the country to Los Angeles, to what my dad said is our permanent home. I missed all my friends in Alexandria, and they all missed me. Virginia had by far been the best and most beautiful place we’ve ever lived. I cried when he told us and I cried the whole week before we left, I didn’t want to leave.

My brothers Ben and David, twins, couldn’t have cared less. They were thirteen year old skateborders who were ecstatic about the move. California was where all the cool people lived and Los Angeles was the best place to go pro. They had a dream as big as the earth of being famous pro skaters. Mother supported them and dad always tried to push them in another direction. They are just as stubborn as he.

Our older brother, Tim, was excited about us moving to Cali. He had been stationed in San Diego for three years. He had always idolized our father and always wanted to join the Marines ever since I could remember. I remember the day he told dad he decided to join, that was the first and only time I’d seen him cry. Our father takes his job very seriously. Tim is a Lance Corporal in the corp and is making his way up the ranks pretty fast.

My mother is a teacher, art and photography, for a local community college. She had graduated with a B.S. in Art History and minored in teaching. My passion for the arts comes from her. I used to dream that one day I would become a famous artist, showing my work in galleries all over the world. But ever since I got an up close and personal tour of Paramount Studios, I’ve been bitten by the Hollywood bug. Editing and filiming scenes, laying music under video, working with amazing actors. Being right there with the director is where I wanted to be. But first, I had to get through the rest of high school.