6th Grade: I was just your average kid growing up in Elk Grove California. My school was pretty cool I met a lot of people that I ended up becoming really good friends with. I did quickly realize I wasn’t the smartest person alive though. All my classmates were already on the advanced math book while I was using the blue book. The Blue book was basically for stupid people. But I was just a little kid so I didn’t really bother me; the only thing I really cared about was super smash brothers Brawl and drawing

7th grade: Going into middle school I still didn’t really have any passion for anything. I was a skinny little dude weighing a buck nothing. I wasn’t used to all the bad language though. My goodness everything was “F*** this, F*** that, shut the f*** up, “that was the first time I ever heard of weed too. I guess it was the thing to do but I stayed away from it and I’m thankful I did. I arrive to my first class and my teacher picks his little sticks and says “Joshua? Can you solve this problem for us on the board”? So I did and I got the problem completely wrong and I was really embarrassed. It made me feel stupid. After the warm up the teacher said’ don’t sweat it, you’re probably just nervous because it’s the first day...you seem like a bright kid”. I just assumed it wasn’t an insult to me so I just said ok.

8th grade: This was the first year I had a passion for something. I had three passions actually. I was very passionate about god, music, and wrestling. I started slowly everyday putting more and more faith into god, and before I knew it I had a very close relationship with god. Middle school wasn’t great though. As we got older the drugs and bad language seem to have gotten worse. It went from people just talking about drugs to people doing drugs in the bathroom. It was something I had to get used to. Every day I would just hold my breath whenever using the restroom. I got my first iPod touch this year and I downloaded song, after song, after song, after song. Music was and still is my drug basically I can’t live without it. My favorite artist to this day is still jhene aiko. At This time I wasn’t good at wrestling but I was getting better.

9th grade: Freshmen year! This year I started seeing a future for myself. I started seeing myself as a firefighter, a teacher, maybe even something big like a music producer to pass the time I Joined tjtv. It’s similar to wolf pack TV so that was pretty fun. I was also new to everyone since I went to cohs instead of Franklin so I got a fresh start which was great. I ended up making varsity wrestling freshmen year which was a big accomplishment. I learned to be more abrasive in matches which resulted in more wins. Being in a sport meant that I had to keep my grades up or I’m off the team which didn’t seem like a problem to me at first. I wasn’t a genius but thought that getting at least a c- in every class would be a piece of cake. Boy I was wrong, I was the stupidest kid in Algebra 1 and that was easy math. The teacher was an ass to. Always telling me”that’s why I signed you up for the class next year”. But anyway I ended up getting a low c in it thanks to Mrs. Hale my 2nd and 3rd term teacher. She was a much better teacher than the first term teacher. A lot of times in class I would be completely oblivious to what was going on but I didn’t care I passed.

10th Grade: This year I actually made a friend or too. Which was great? I started to go to Christian club which was pretty awesome. There was some harangue towards me but nothing big. This year was also the kind of trendy year. Snapbacks, Jordan’s, hookah vapes but they were all ephemeral. The only thing that is still around is the vapes. I started to study a whole lot this year, people started thinking I was extremely smart but I had to abstain from it because it was an unhealthy habit. This year a dream started. I wanted to go to college. I started to see a really bright future for myself. It eventually became my goal. I signed up for hard classes and pushed myself to just buckle down and pass them. This was also the first year I got my first accolade. It was the “most improved varsity wrestler” award it felt great because I worked so hard for it. This year was going actually pretty good for me. Teachers started saying that I had a bright future it felt powerful. I also kind of liked this tear because I sat next to this cheerleader in geometry she was so blithe and beautiful. When I would go home and sit on my soft bolster I would always thank god for this heavenly vacation for this dream life I wanted. One day I was putting my clothes into the hamper about to do laundry and my mom said ”I’m proud of you, you’re going to be something great” That meant a lot to me and it motivated to me even more. My new motto was “I love you I just want to make you proud of me:”

11th grade: This year I got my first car. I was so tenacious with those keys when my mom handed them over. Driving to school First day in my 2001 honda passport felt great. I felt independent, and relaxed, like nothing matters. That’s until I saw my schedule. First period algebra 2. I Was back to square one. Getting f’s on every test and feeling stupid. The teacher looked at me straight in the eyes and said ”you are going fail this class” I was offended and angry as I stared down at a 33% paper. I Had to work my ass off to pass this class. I didn’t even do it to go to college I did it to prove the teacher wrong. I had a dream and no one was going to stop me. My grades slowly went from 30% to 50% to 70% to 95%. The teacher still didn’t like me but he was impressed. I could already see it walking onto the campus of long beach California ready for a new beginning. I passed algebra 2 with a b+ and that was one of the biggest accomplishments in my entire life. I can’t wait to see what senior year holds for me.