A Young Man

If you've read these blog posts in chronological order of my story up until this point, you'll have read: My Childhood

If you're just tuning in, I'd go back and read that as you may find yourself down a rabbit hole reading each of these pieces and missing a foundational piece to it all.

The blurry memories of Buffalo...

After barely graduating high school, I went to Community College for a Criminal Justice degree hoping that would offset my criminal record.

I began to actually apply myself, made the Dean's List and started to be a better leader on the Basketball Court, and Soccer Field.

During that time, I was denied from every branch of the military.

Upon returning from studying abroad in London, I was recruited to play soccer for Buffalo State University and transferred.

There, my grades started to slip again as I went to school full time while playing a sport and working 3+ jobs at any given time in order to pay for school.

After getting injured just a few months in, I rehabbed quick and decided to try out Rugby.

And I LOVED it. I got to hit people, fight people, and then shake their hand and drink beers with them after the game. It was great.

I worked really hard in college. In the classroom, on the field and at whatever bar I was bouncing at, restaurant I was serving at or construction site I was doing concrete at. And every bit of it was a great experience.

A Terrifying Moment

The night that I graduated, I woke up in the middle of the night and was reaching for my green and orange gatorade bottle when I heard some ruffling next to me.

I looked up and saw a man in a big bubble coat IN MY BEDROOM with his back to me going through the stuff on my desk.

Disoriented, I thought it was one of my roommates looking for a condom or something since we had had a party that night to celebrate.

"Bro, what are you doing", squinting my eyes to see. But when he turned around, my eyes were met with a strangers.

I froze for a moment, then grabbed my knife and gun and chased him out the door.

When the police came, we told them how much cash he stole and they immediately began disregarding the crime and accusing us from selling drugs.

Although that would have been true for the better half of the last decade, that was not the case here - we were all serving at restaurants for cash tips.

Safe to say, they treated us like shit and it was a huge bummer as I had just graduated and was about to apply for Buffalo Police Department.

This put a bad taste in my mouth and...

Read the next part of my story here!