A Little About Me

    I guess I might as well tell you guys a little bit about myself. I was born in 2002, but we do not need to go back that far. My single mom had me with an anonymous sperm donor. Our supportive family helped raise me and shape me into the person I am today. Although we aren't very religious, I went to Catholic school from kindergarten through eighth grade. For high school, I was given the choice to be with my friends who did theater and dance with me, or stay with the brats from Catholic school and attend Catholic high school. I chose to be with my friends in a local public high school. High school was some of the best years of my life. 2020 is the year I graduated. I know what you're thinking, "OMG, she's a COVID grad!". My plan since January 2020 was to attend the University of Tampa in August, a couple months after graduating high school. Once March hit, we all know what happened. I second-guessed my decision to attend UT and decided to do two years of community college online since the pandemic threw us all for a loop.

    In high school, I begged my parents to let me stay until I graduated before moving. We moved to Sarasota, Florida in August 2020. I was supposed to start college not long after that, but with COVID and everything, I decided to defer for a semester. This means I would have been starting in January 2021. I hectically looked for classes available online, without Zoom calls, at local community colleges. I settled on HCC because they offered the most classes for my major at the time, with the most availability. In September 2020, I started to apply for part-time jobs near me. I applied for Urban Outfitters and was hired on the day of my interview. I helped open a store from scratch and put it all together. We opened later that month and from then on I was a working gal. I fell in love with my job and tended to put it before school since the schoolwork was so easy being all online. Work became my number one priority, although I still achieved almost perfect grades. My fellow employees became my work family and it made it seem like work was not even work. I was getting paid to do something I enjoy with people I like. January came around and I decided to stay working and do online community college. I would start at UT in the fall of 2021. I kept on working and working and decided I did not really want to go to school just yet. I was saving money since I had been doing online community college courses and I was able to work. It was a win-win. In November of 2021, I was promoted to a full-time key holder position at Urban Outfitters. I was so thrilled and obviously accepted the offer. I knew I would be going to school, but I knew I had time before that happened so I took my time exploring this role and all the opportunities that came with it. I was offered the role of visual merchandising manager but kindly declined because I knew I would only be in the role for a short time. I applied to UT for the spring semester of 2023 and was accepted, so I knew I would have to say goodbye to my favorite store and the best work setting. January 8, 2023, was my very last day working full-time at Urban Outfitters in Sarasota, but because I just could not say goodbye to my work family yet, I decided to stay on as a part-time sales associate. Just like how I started. I will be working once every other weekend just to stay with the people I love and the great discount! 

    My major is advertising and public relations with a minor in marketing. Do not ask me what I will be doing with this degree because I am not too sure about that yet. I have too many things I am fond of. I do not have one driving passion. I like creative things, I just cannot choose one thing that I may possibly want to do for the rest of my life. Some things that sound exciting to me are event planning, helping manage marketing projects for companies, possibly doing advertising work for companies, or even being a stay-at-home mom one day. Who knows what I will do! I can even see myself working for the corporate of URBN one day. I love the company for the past two years I have been with them, so I would love to see what my future holds with them. If only their headquarters were not in Philadelphia! I only hope I will find a career that sparks my creativity but still allows me to use my strategic mind. 

    I am extremely close with my family. I grew up with just my mom and her parents, my grandparents. She did not want to wait for the right man to come around, so she had me on her own. In 2013, she met my dad whom she married in 2015. He had three kids from his first marriage which gave me three older step-siblings. It turns out my sperm donor was used by many people all over the country. I have found around 25 half-siblings who share this sperm donor's DNA with me. My family always accepted and supported my mom having me on her own. It seems to be a trend in my family that the women are matriarchs. My mom owned a salon for 25 years and had me on her own. She followed in my grandma's footsteps of being a leader. My grandma was the leader of the Youth Bureau for around 30 years after raising her three children and going back to school. These two women are some of the most important people in my life. Although I do not have a bunch of cousins or aunts and uncles, my immediate family is my rock. They truly are the reason I am the way I am today. 

    I enjoy the arts. I did theater, dance, and voice when I was younger. From ages four to fifteen, these were my life. I love to shop as well as hang out with my family or my boyfriend. My dog, Mac, is my soul mate and he is twelve years young. I love to travel even though I have not done it much since COVID. The thought of living in Italy one day is a dream for me. I would love to study abroad, but I believe I would much rather do it on my own terms after school instead of through school. My boyfriend and I have been together for over three years now. We love to try new foods and build legos together. I like to read, build legos, and rearrange my room in my free time. I find I need to do something creative every day to stimulate my creative brain. Since legos have a mix of both creativity and strategy, I love them. I enjoy talking to my friends and family about any and everything. I am shy once you first meet me, but I open up once I feel comfortable with you. I am a true Gemini and INFP-T personality type. 

    I'm sure you're sick of me already, but you can't be just yet! There is so much more coming your way.