My karate journey began after watching the Karate Kid movies, which inspired me to pursue martial arts. When I was young, I had a tough experience at the Boys and Girls Club, where I was tackled and choked by another kid until someone stepped in to help. That moment led my parents to enroll me in karate so I could learn self-defense. I started as a white belt and worked my way up to blue belt, training daily and competing in local tournaments. My mom surprised me by signing me up for my first open karate tournament in Walla Walla, Washington. Although I didn’t place, I had a blast competing in kumite and kata events, which motivated me to join my dojo’s tournament team coached by Sydni and Rhyli Stocks. I continued training hard, advancing through the belts, and began placing at every tournament after my first.

At age 13, I competed in my first big tournament, the AAU national qualifier in Seattle, Washington, where I placed third in kata and qualified for the AAU national karate championship in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. At nationals, I participated in kata, kobudo (weapons kata), sanbon kumite, ippon kumite, and team rotational kumite, placing sixth in sanbon kumite. The following year, I competed in the WUKF/AAU international karate tournament in Las Vegas, where I placed third in ippon kumite. That was my first international tournament, and placing there was a huge achievement for me and my family. I returned to nationals the same year, and now I’m looking forward to competing at the World Championships and maybe even the Olympics.

I’m raising funds to cover entry fees for all tournaments—local, national, international, and world—as well as travel expenses and equipment required for specific events like AAU, WUKF, and NKF. Your support will help me continue my journey, make a difference in the karate world, and hopefully represent Team USA at the highest levels. Please help me make my dreams come true. Anything at all will help.