Introduction

Hello, my name is Maria I'm eighteen years old and this is my story.

I grew up in different parts of the world, meeting new people, and experiencing different cultures. By the time I was ten years old, I had already relocated five times. I would move an additional two times before finally settling in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex. Fortunately throughout my travels, I have been able to hold onto passions that are dear to me. Moreover, I have developed new ones with each adventure.

I was born in Lima, Peru and lived there for four years before moving to New York. After a brief stint in New York, my family moved to New Jersey and then London, England. After London we moved to Chicago, Illinois where we lived for four years - the longest amount of time I have ever lived in one location. From there we moved to Tulsa before finally settling in Texas the summer before my sophomore year. Everywhere I went I was able to meet different people and adapt to a new school and house. I was always good at making friends but saying goodbye is the hardest thing to do. In my last year in Tulsa, my freshman year, I found my passion for music and joined choir and show choir. While I had been singing since the age of six, I really became enthralled with music during this time. Music has always been a part of me and always will.

    Tulsa was by far one of my favorite places to live. People still ask me why, as they simply cannot understand its beauty. I learned that it is not where I live that makes a place but, rather, those I live among. I believe that you bloom wherever you are planted. In the next year I will be attending college, I do not know where I'm going yet. But I know that wherever I end up going to college it will be the right place for me.

I chose the name "living louder" because I have always been a quiet person, but I want that to change I want to be heard. I have gone through some struggles but believe that change and challenges is only whatever I make of it. But I always choose to make it work. So through this journey of mine living louder is my moto and hope it can be yours as well.