When people look at me they see a mother in her 30s covered in nerd tattoos related to Harry Potter, Star Wars, DC comics, and Doctor Who. They may notice the Garmin and realize I do some running. If they see me in a grocery store or out to eat, they may notice that I don't eat meat. And while that does give some idea to the outline of my person and personality, it is nothing but surface level, just like all of those tattoos. I was raised in a lower middle class household in the South. We lived in the town of Evergreen, Alabama until I was 13 years old when we moved outside of Pensacola, Florida to be closer to my maternal grandparents. We were also escaping the small town that new all of the details of my eldest brother's issues with the law, giving my other brother and I both a chance to start over without whispers in the hallway. The move was good for our family at first. But there was never any therapy or healing provided for me, one of the victims of my oldest brother. I went to school at the University of Southern Mississippi in the fall of 2005. I returned home by January of 2006 due to illness, a diagnosis of Ulcerative Colitis was finally made in 2013, and enrolled at Pensacola Junior College. Unfortunately, I was still just an angry kid inside and allowed my anger and frustration to bubble out and manifest in partying, working too much, and avoiding my parents. This eventually led me down a road of drugs and alcohol. I had two children with two different fathers before my 24th birthday. I married a man who saw me as property, not a partner. I was able to divorce him after years of emotional and financial abuse as well as alienation from my family and friends. Following the divorce, I attempted to return to school but after my first semester back, my car broke down and I had to take time off again. By 2018, I gave up on higher education and took a job managing a restaurant called The Gulf. I absolutely loved working for this company because we followed the "farm to table" concept. All of the food was locally sourced and the menu changed every based on what was fresh and available. After the 2020 shutdowns, the concept of The Gulf had to change. Most of the local distributors didn't survive and The Gulf became the same as every other beach restaurant, except a menu that changed monthly. I still enjoyed my team of employees and being in the kitchen on expo or slinging drinks behind the bar, but the heart of the operation had changed and my love was dwindling. I did soul searching, left my role of acting GM, and returned to school in fall of 2023. That was when my ex husband decided that he wanted to take me to court for full custody of my son. I homeschool my kids, work, live with illness, and am in school myself while in a custody battle. Through it all, I have maintained an institutional GPA of 3.86. Finances have been the hardest part to manage in this journey because I am juggling so much more than a traditional student. But I know that once I have completed my bachelor's degree, I just have a 3 year DPT program to complete in order to be a physical therapist and live my lifelong dream of working in the medical field.