Jaried

Originally, I lived in the city of Chicago, on the west side. But since my mom wanted me to have a better life, she did everything she could to bring us to North Chicago in 2011. I was nine.

For me, it was new, because it was a lot more diverse. Everyone was more dark-skinned, like me, back where I came from. And then around here, I see so many different types of people, including people of my own race, and I'm like, “Oh, so this is normal?”

When I came here, how the students were; I was able to talk to them a lot better and get close to them easier. I felt more included within the school itself. Here, I feel like I can talk to just about anybody and it wouldn't be too bad. 

Because North Chicago is a smaller community, or some other reason?

I think it's mainly because how everyone decides to treat each other. Since everybody treats each other around the same way, everybody can get along and treat each other better. There's those few exceptions, but for the most part everybody seems like they can get along well.

You’re wearing your Warhawk Summer Up shirt today. That’s a program from the City of North Chicago that you participated in over a couple summers, right?

Just right off the bat, I'd say it was awesome. Starting off with my very first experience while I was in high school, there was a week-long college trip to Milwaukee School of Engineering. It was totally different from what I would have ever expected. I was living in a dorm for that entire week. I had to rely on myself to wake up on the right times to go to class, and I had to get to know new, different types of people. It was five different classes, and one was about computer engineering. Building small games and these tiny little robot things. And there was a class for public speaking. That one was interesting.

And another year was the internship at City Hall. I think that was my favorite, most memorable thing. I got close with the Chief of Staff and we got to know the people in City Hall, and I was able to experience some of the work that they do. I got to experience an entirely new thing.

And what are you doing now?

Now I work up at Goodwill [on the Navy base]. I'm one of the cooks there. I prepare food and make sure it gets out to the recruits. 

For the longest time, I said I'm not gonna work there. I kept telling my mom that, but she wanted me to. And then it ended up happening, because my sister was working there for a while, and I wanted to find some way to be able to go pick her up, and make sure she's safe because she works a later shift. She was always walking home at night.

How old is your sister?

She's 22 now.

You’re the baby brother, but watching out for her.

Yeah, it's always been like that, because my sister has autism. So when she was younger, she acted more like a child than I did. But that was never an issue for me. I was always used to taking on bigger responsibilities, because my dad wasn't around too much. And my mom had to work long shifts, so I had to take care of all the big stuff at home.

That sounds like a lot for a young person.

When I was younger, I was into video games and I never really had much time for it, because I had to make sure that everything was okay. I had to make sure I got all the chores done. The house was clean. And the mail is checked and getting any homework done from school.

I didn't have a problem with it. I always made sure that food was cooked. And everything that she wanted was done. Since we weren't too well off, there was occasionally rats and things that will come through. And I had to make sure that those were away from her because she was extremely scared of rats. I think she kinda is still, today.

Really, I never thought about it too much. I had a lot to deal with when I was younger, but over time when I grew up, it's something I got used to and it wasn't too much for me. And I've managed to make time for everything now.

What are you most proud of?

I'm most proud that I was still able to get through school, mainly, as a near honor student. I never knew that the Honor Society existed, but I was still taking honors classes and dual credit classes. But I feel proud that I got through high school with all that. And one minor victory for me: I was on the tennis team back in high school, and I was the one who got the first victory for the tennis team for the entire high school.

What!? The first ever?

I won the very first game that they ever won, which was a singles game because they always put me by myself instead of putting me with a partner.

It seems like you should have a commemorative plaque with your photo on it, or something in a display case at the school for that.

That'd be cool. But that didn't happen. I'm fine with just the MVP trophy that I got at the end of the year.

You graduated from North Chicago High School in 2021, having made your mark as an MVP. What’s something that people don’t know about you?

Back when I was in high school I was more fit. People thought I'd be one of those jock types who'd be into sports and bully others. Then they realized I was a lot more chill than they were expecting. I could relate to them on more topics that they would expect, and I would get into things that they were into so I could understand and have more stuff to talk about. I consider myself as an all-arounder type; I choose to do everything when I can to see and to experience different things. You never know until you get into it. 

And same for people. There was this one student in high school who I knew nobody liked. Absolutely nobody. And I'm like, “Why does nobody like her?” So I went to talk to her myself. And I thought, “She's not terrible.” I made fun of her for her bad grammar a lot, but that's just me. She was never a horrible person, she just wasn't well-off. People would stay away from her, but she was never a bad person. She just didn't have a good situation that she couldn't fix herself– and people always assumed that she was bad. 

When I say “This Is North Chicago,” you say what?

I really just think the community, the community itself, how the people are, how diverse they are, and how well they coexist with each other. You know, that's what I think North Chicago is. But it's not necessarily any major landmarks or any big popular sites. I think it's just the people themselves. If you really delve in and talk to people and get to know them, I think you'll end up with a pretty solid experience.

This conversation has been edited and condensed.