Clean

“Clean” is a self-reflective sum of stories from the incredible journey I have had the opportunity to have lived so far. It begins with my experience growing up in the small town of Brunswick, Maryland. Though I had [and continue to live] a privileged life, my home was far from perfect. Despite the negative environment that erupted from my parent’s faulty relationship, I learned how to love fully and completely. After high school my parents retired and decided to sell our home for a mobile house, leading me to pack up all my belongings and leave for a fresh start at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, to study neurology and oncologic developments. This fresh start allowed me to forgive and move on from the hardships of my homelife. Attending Texas A&M opened my eyes to politics and policies. Though I made some lifelong friends there; the school’s environment was incredibly taxing on my well-being. My parents were also in the middle of a very messy divorce, and this led my mother to a very dark place. I left school to help her get through trials and nights alone in Memphis, Tennessee and to reassess my own academic goals. I started performing live music at a restaurant called The Cellar where I was a regular performer, and I gained a following. Soon after moving to Tennessee, my mother’s and I’s relationship was put to the test as I went from being a daughter to more of a caregiver. Given the many other uncertainties in my life at the time, this was hard for me to handle. When my high school sweetheart from Maryland came to visit me in Tennessee and saw how I was deteriorating from the stress, he offered me a place to stay in California. I jumped at the chance of new opportunity, at the chance of a new life. Then we drove from where we had vacationed in Alabama to San Diego, California, near the Blue Line’s Balboa trolley stop, and I was able to start over again and let go of the past couple months. Staying at his place with four other roommates proved to be challenging, so we found a place of our own, working three jobs each to make rent. Now we live comfortably with our two cats in our own space, performing live music in downtown San Diego on the weekends, and enjoying the last couple terms before we graduate this summer and start all over again in law school. From an insightful childhood to four different colleges, and a rainbow of professions, I have gained numerous perspectives and have lived so many different lives. These experiences taught me to forgive and move through past traumas which has made me the strong, independent, and resilient woman I am today and will be tomorrow.