My name is Jace Nichols, and I am 18 years old. I live at home with my mom, Monique, and my dad, Joseph. I wanted a sibling, but I never got one. I love biology. Bacteria gets a really bad rap.
When you think of bacteria, you probably think of the flu, people dying, people throwing up. But in all honesty, it's really not that bad. There are a lot lot, lot more good bacteria than bad bacteria. Some of it even keeps you alive. It's really cool.
I think something that would be hard for me to imagine is living in one place for my entire life over these short 18 years. I have moved six times. I have made new friends six times and I've lost friends six times. I never had the luxury of interacting with the same environments or people growing up as some of my other classmates had. I was born in Massachusetts, but I lived there for only a few months before moving to California. California, I was ostracized. And the people talk behind my back in preschool. They didn't realize how cool I am.
I then moved to Colorado, where I made my first real friends. I hated moving. Next was Oklahoma. It was awful. I started middle school, was bullied and really missed what I had in Colorado. My fifth move was to Texas. Still sore from my experience in Oklahoma. I hated oh my gosh, I hated moving.
You do so much to yourself psychologically just by thinking about everything from a negative point of view. Now I'm here in Ohio. Ohio definitely isn't the most exciting place I've been, but the teachers I've had during my time in Centreville High School have been some of the best I've ever had before.
People had told me that not everything was going to be easy about being in a military family. And I knew that. However, no one ever told me the benefits about being in my unique situation. I understand that if I never had those experiences, I would have never met the amazing friends and people I know now. Yes, I've been bullied in multiple states, but when I do get friends in new states, they typically are some of the best people I had the honor of meeting.
I know a drummer who's been playing for over ten plus years and just recently released an album with his band. I know a lacrosse player who has probably broken every single bone in his body at least once.
I have lived in L.A., not even understanding what Hollywood was. It had some of the best seafood ever in Massachusetts, seen the prettiest mountain ranges in Colorado. I'm planning to go to Colorado for college, so hopefully I'll find a career in biology because I absolutely love it.