UNCATEGORIZED

Facing Arizona: ‘I love meeting and talking to people’

Apr 9, 2018, 2:09 PM | Updated: Jun 13, 2018, 2:10 pm

(KTAR News Photo/Sure Shot Photography)...

(KTAR News Photo/Sure Shot Photography)

(KTAR News Photo/Sure Shot Photography)

Editor’s note: Facing Arizona is a series that will appear on KTAR.com and social media  — follow KTAR News on Instagram and Facebook for updates — highlighting unique and everyday people across our state and give you a glimpse into their lives.

I am 22 years old. I was born in Santa Cruz, Calif. but raised in Modesto.

I moved to Tucson when I was 16 to stay with family here. The area I grew up was pretty was rough. There was a lot of gang activity, drug dealers and gun violence. My mother didn’t want me to be surrounded by that anymore. She was afraid something would happen to me. I didn’t want to be surrounded by that anymore, I’ve never been in any trouble, so I moved here. I graduated high school and now I’m trying to make a better life for myself.

I have my state residency — which is important for tuition reasons — a regular job that pays pretty good and is steady. So now it’s time for me to take the next step and go to college. I’ll start taking classes this fall and I would like to focus on photography and video work. I have always been interested in doing both.

I love meeting and talking to people and I feel everyone has something to say, a story to tell. I feel I can give them an opportunity to do that. Like you talking to me and asking me to tell a little part of my story, that’s what I want to do. I want to travel and meet people from different places and really learn about the world around me. I want to take some business classes as well.

I would like to be able to work for myself, but I know nothing about owning a business. I figure it would be a good idea to learn about that also. You can’t be successful if you don’t have the knowledge to back up your dreams. I’m hopeful about my future.

I’m grateful that I have family here that was willing to take me in and now I have better opportunities than I did back home. I honestly don’t know where I would be right now had I not had that chance. — Roberto

Associated Press

Crews rush to recover commuter plane found crashed on Alaska sea ice before expected snow and wind

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Just hours after finding 10 people dead in western Alaska from one of the deadliest plane crashes in the state in 25 years, authorities raced to recover their remains and the wreckage of the small commuter plane from unstable sea ice before expected high winds and snow. “The conditions out there […]

4 hours ago

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Baltimore Field Officer director Matt Elliston listens dur...

Associated Press

Trump is signing up local law officers to help with immigration enforcement

For years, the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office in suburban Indianapolis has wanted to partner with federal immigration authorities to identify and detain immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally and facing charges. President Joe Biden’s administration never returned its calls, the sheriff’s office said. But as President Donald Trump cracks down on illegal immigration, Hamilton […]

5 hours ago

Camden Lee, 16, poses for a portrait at his family's apartment, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in the Broo...

Associated Press

A 15-year-old went to a Brooklyn parade. The NYPD wrongly accused him of a mass shooting

NEW YORK (AP) — Camden Lee was leaving high school football practice in September when he saw the photograph, splashed across the New York Police Department’s social media accounts, that would soon upend his life. In a crisp surveillance image, the 15-year-old stands alone in a hoodie and shorts, eyes cast down on a Brooklyn […]

5 hours ago

Mellow, a transgender woman, poses for a portrait, Monday, Feb. 3, 2025, outside of the Norfolk Cir...

Associated Press

Passport applications got more complicated for transgender Americans under new Trump policy

The day after President Donald Trump returned to office, Lisa Suhay took her 21-year-old daughter, Mellow, to a passport office in Norfolk, Virginia, where they live. Getting a passport for Mellow, who is transgender, was urgent. In an executive order Trump signed the night before, the president used a narrow definition of the sexes instead […]

5 hours ago

Leslie Knox stands outside her home Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, in Hamtramck, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul San...

Associated Press

Generations later, a remedy to destroying Black neighborhoods is fulfilled in Michigan

HAMTRAMCK, Mich. (AP) — Leslie Knox was a young girl in the 1960s when her Detroit-area city was accused of destroying neighborhoods to get rid of Black residents. Decades later, the retired nurse has returned to Hamtramck, settling into a new two-story home on Gallagher Street and watching TV from a fold-up chair while she […]

5 hours ago

Patrick Mannion, owner of Osprey Whitewater, looks over the Nolichuky River, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024,...

Associated Press

A hidden gem of whitewater rafting faces an uncertain future after Hurricane Helene

ERWIN, Tenn. (AP) — After 24 years of guiding whitewater trips on the Nolichucky River Gorge for other companies, Patrick Mannion finally received a permit last year to operate his own outfitter business. But following the devastation of Hurricane Helene, he doesn’t know if Osprey Whitewater will be around for a second year. Flooding driven […]

5 hours ago

Sponsored Articles

...

Asset Preservation Wealth & Tax

How to optimize the most money in 2024 tax returns

As tax season begins, getting your financials in order is important to maximize your tax return.

...

The UPS Store

How The UPS Store is giving back to the community

PHOENIX -- As 2024 nears a close, The UPS Store is looking to give back to the Arizona community with the holiday season approaching.

...

Sanderson Ford

Sanderson Ford’s Operation Santa Claus: Spreading holiday cheer through pickleball

Phoenix, AZ – Sanderson Ford, a staple in the Arizona community, is once again gearing up for its annual Operation Santa Claus charity drive.

Facing Arizona: ‘I love meeting and talking to people’