Being born and raised in San Diego, California, one may think about great weather and beaches however, like everything in life there are ups and downs. I never knew my father growing up as my mother worked 2 sometimes 3 jobs to make ends meet. Because of this, I was forced to mature faster than most and spent a lot of time with my grandmother. At 11 years old, I saved her life as one morning she woke up not being able to breathe and having intense chest pain. This was later determined to be congestive heart failure as she went through a very long road of surgeries, illnesses, nursing home confinement and  held on for as long as she could before passing away in December of 2020.  My experiences with her and my late uncle, who also was prior navy, taking his own life in 2011, motivated me to be something bigger and better than just myself. Joining the Navy in 2011 was one of the best decisions I have made thus far as I was able to gain useful life long tools, grow professionally and personally, and also was shown even more diversity even though San Diego is somewhat of a melting pot. I am currently a student at University of phoenix, completing my Bachelors in health care administration and management with an anticipated graduation date of April 2023. I am a father of three beautiful daughters (13,5,4) my 5 year old is autistic and my 4 year old has cerebral palsy along with a rare chromosome disorder called Crime du Chat.