The Call

It started with nothing more than a dream, a burning passion and desire to create something that would bring value to our community. Over the years Sunnyside, WA has seen its fair share of violence, coming either from gangs or being the result of children being raised in broken homes. As the head coach and owner of Dungeon Boxing Club, my mission has been to instill into the youth of my city the belief that they can and will achieve what those around them have led them to believe they couldn’t. Coming from a broken home myself, I understand the struggles and hurdles that our children face everyday and I refuse to allow their current circumstance to define their future. My entire life all I ever heard was that I would grow up to be nothing, the tough part was that this was coming from the very people who should have been strengthening me, encouraging me to succeed. After many years of hearing this over and over, I began to believe this to be true. I did everything possible to stay away from my so-called “home”, from sneaking out of my window at night to fully running away for months at a time. One of my most intimate childhood memories comes from a moment where I felt completely invisible, unwanted, lonely, and unimportant. I had a close friend who would also run away whenever he found the opportunity to do so, also coming from a broken home himself. The difference between me and him was that his family would look for him whenever he was gone for more than a day. One night as we were roaming the streets, my friend was recognized by a local police officer who then proceeded to stop us and immediately had my friend jump in his cruiser as he informed him that his mother had reported him as a runaway. As they drove off I stared blankly at that cruiser hoping he would turn around and tell me that I also was reported as runaway. At that moment I believe I realized that if I ever wanted to amount to anything, I would have to do it myself or seek help from someone or something much more powerful than any human emotion. At that moment I knew that I was destined to do something great in this life but understood that it was not going to be easy. My calling was slowly beginning to become clear…