Kern Sol News’ new segment “Humans of Kern County” aims to share the stories of the people who make up our community. These stories tell readers a little bit about what makes these individuals who they are today. If you or someone you know has a story that would like to be featured in the “Humans of Kern County” segment, submissions can be sent to caleb@southkernsol.org.
Since graduating nearly 2 years ago, I often reflect back on my days in high school. I created some of the best memories while in high school, and I credit much of who I am today to my high school experience.
While in high school, life was simple. Hanging out with friends and skating played an important role during that time because it was something we all enjoyed doing. It was always so fun — never a dull moment. We had nothing too serious to worry about, other than what we were going to do and where we were going to go. My friends and I always had jokes and a dynamic that nobody else would really understand. I’m happy to be friends with all those same people and still be able to share and reminisce about memories we made.
Learning has become really important for me recently. My uncle knows a lot about vehicles and if anything messes up, I can ask him about it and we’re able to bond. it is something I can ask him about and in a way, we can bond through it. My first car was a 1990 Lincoln Town Car that was owned by my uncle. He was actually going to sell the car to someone else, and I almost had to beg him for it. But my birthday had just passed, so it was a cool present despite me having to pay for it. It’s been pretty exciting and I get lots of compliments on it too, which is always nice.
My experiences in high school also taught me how important learning is. I have been thinking about what I want in life, and I want to be someone who can do whatever they want. If I want to learn something, then I’m going to go out and learn it. But what I really want is to pursue the arts.
When I was younger, designing things fascinated me. I’ve always wanted to do something where I have a creative outlet and design things or be in charge of how something looks. A big inspiration for me came from watching “Illegal Civ 2” in high school, which is a skate movie. They were making clothes and wore and promoted them in their skateboarding. In high school, I made shirts and sweaters that people really seemed to like, which was really cool. I try to take inspiration from everything.
