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For as long as I can remember gaming has always been a part of my life, I am a millennial, after all, what would you expect.
The earliest memory I have from my childhood is associated with gaming, this was when I was a young toddler in diapers. I remember going to the local arcade store and jumping on a milk carton and playing the retro games that we all grew to love.
Throughout my entire childhood, adolescent, and teenage years I experienced living below poverty.
My mother raised me and my three brothers by herself, she was a hardworking and loving mother to all of us. Somehow, she was able to spoil us with electronics and gaming consoles for our birthdays and Christmas. In 2002, after I graduated high school, I knew that I wanted to be in the gaming industry but I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do so I chose to study game design.
I wanted to enroll at Gibbs College in Norwalk but it required commuting from Waterbury to take the classes and it didn’t fit into my mother's schedule. Additionally, financial aid wouldn’t provide me any assistance because my mother made enough money to pay for college tuition.
Of course, they didn’t take into consideration that she was a single mother taking care of a household of 5. I recall being discouraged along with my mother that day. She felt guilty and I felt lost, I didn’t know what to do with my life and I had nowhere to go. I decided shortly after to join the Marine Corps, went to boot camp in Camp Leujune, SC and then shortly afterward I got stationed at Camp Pendleton, California with the 2nd Battalion 5th Marines 1st Marine Division.
During my first enlistment, I deployed to Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2004. We lost 15 brothers in the 6 months we were deployed, an impact that has stuck with me until this very day. Since then I have never been the same. I have sworn to never let their lives be in vain.
After the war I swore to take advantage of every opportunity that life offered me, I promised myself to always remain focused and determined regardless of the circumstances. I owed my brothers that sacrificed and paid the ultimate price to live motivated and dedicated to hustle, grind, and work hard for the better of humanity.
During my second enlistment, I was married and shortly after divorced. I was also elected amongst my peers to serve as a personal security officer for the deputy commanding general of 1st Marine Division. I also experienced homelessness three times, and at one point I had to live in my vehicle for one week.
It has been an interesting journey to this point of my life. I am now a leader amongst my community as the student representative of 17 Colleges and Universities in the state of Connecticut, I have assisted in establishing a non-profit organization focused on gaming and STEM learning in Waterbury, Connecticut, and also an inspiring spoken word artist. I have experienced several stages of leadership that I would like to share with the world.
I hope to motivate, empower, educate, and encourage anyone that may be reading this article. I am not perfect and I am just like you just trying to sound off loud in this busy world. I am brand new at this and hope to learn and grow along with you. Thank you for taking the time to read my first blog. Enjoy your day.
