Ecuador Student Blog

David T., Age 17

Open Meadow

I live in Portland Oregon as of right now. Most of my Family members live in other places in the United States. I really don’t see them as much anymore. When I was little I have seen them. But as I got older they have moved to other places. They really haven’t seen me grow up. I have a large family and half of them I never see. My neighborhood that I live in, I get to see some of my family when I and my parents have family reunions. Myself as I see it, if they aren’t their for me at first why be their now… Read more

Sarah M., Age 18

Open Meadow

I come from a family of four: my mom, sister and brother. My dad was never really part of my life as I was growing up. At the age of 11 months I was taken from my mom due to her drug addiction and domestic violence. Instead of being placed in foster care my grandma taken my sister and I until my mom could get clean. My brother lived with my dads’ mom. When she did, until I was the age of 4 my sister, brother and myself had gone to live with my mom. Growing up near Peninsula Park, on Rosa parks way which to me will always be known as Portland Blvd… Read more

Nkechi I., Age 17

POIC

My name is Nkechukwuyelu Cherice Izuchukwu. Nkechukwuyelu means “God has given us a gift” in Igbo. My father is Nigerian; however, he was born in London, England. His father (my grandfather) was a judge and his mother (my grandmother) was a businesswomen. My father grew up in a village outside of Lagos, Nigeria on a compound with a large house and servants. My mother is African American. She is the daughter of and educator and a businessman. My grandmother’s family ties to Oregon go back to the late 1800’s. I have deep roots in Nigeria and in Oregon… Read more

Open Meadow

I was born September 2nd 1991 in Portland, Or. Growing up my family wasn’t very wealthy. I lived with my parents, two brothers and my sister; so the little money that we did have had to stretch pretty far. When I was seven my parents started going through some problems that eventually led to their divorce. Soon after the divorce my mother started going out with her boy-friend that she’s with now and turned to drugs to get away from her problems. On the other hand my father’s did not turn to drugs, he just became an alcoholic even worse than what he already was, which eventually led to his death… Read more

Ty M., Age 17

Open Meadow

My name is Ty Maher. I am 17 years old. I come from a loving and caring family. I am the youngest girl out of 11 brothers and sisters. There are 7 girls and 4 brothers. I have a big family all around. I lived in Portland all my life and I really never plain on moving away. I have all my family that lives here with me and my mom and dad grew up here too. So did most of my brothers and sisters… Read more

Open Meadow CRUE

I’m going to tell you a little about myself and how I got to where I am today. It all started back when I was a wee little tike, I was born and raised in Portland, Oregon but I lived in southern California for a couple of years. Growing up I never had a good life but at the same time it could have been worse. Throughout my childhood I was brought with my mom living from paycheck to paycheck on welfare. All of our food was bought on food stamps and the only reason the rent got paid was because of that lowly welfare check. Until I was 11 we lived in a trailer park in northeast Portland where we were constantly around drug use and other sorts of crime. Which when you’re a kid is actually very scary, but at the same time made me more aware of the issues and helped me learn how to avoid them… Read more

Mila B., Age 16

Roosevelt SEIS

My immediate family consists of five people: my parents, my two siblings, and myself. And ever since I was little, my family was very close. Everything going on in our lives was shared; every emotion that we encountered was felt among the rest. And at first, a lot of my life was based on the actions of my sister. Being the oldest, Kayla set the tone for the rest of the children. If she was interested in one thing, it was reasonable to assume that I would be too. I faced expectations either derived from how Kayla acted in school, or her life outside of it. My parents also both came from hard backgrounds. As a child, they merely wanted what was best for me. And I faced a lot of restrictions because of that too, because staying home meant staying safe. But when I started getting older, my own identity began to form. And throughout the years, I started to twist and bend and kick my way out of the grasps of both. My interests started evolving and my mind started opening… Read more