Isaiah, 21

In Defense of Lebron James…

I really like basketball. Everybody gives Lebron James a lot of crap whether he wins or loses, but I really like him. You know, it’s weird, a lot of people, I don’t know if it’s biased or what it is, but a lot of people think he comes off as arrogant. I really don’t think he comes off that way, I think he’s kind of a down-to-earth guy. He gets defensive, which I think he has every right to do. There’s a lot of criticism about him. I don’t think he’s necessarily cocky or anything. That would put me off, that’s the reason I don’t like Kobe Bryant at all.

Change in Plans…

I always thought I was going to be a teacher, and then I got a little brother and that kind of ruined that. I was right around 15. It’s definitely a big age difference. I just kind of figured out that kids are hard to teach, and it really doesn’t get better when they’re older. Either they pretend they don’t know anything, or they get older and think they know everything.

My Three Dads…

I’m not related to either of my dads. It’s been a little bit of a journey, actually. My dad’s partner now—he wasn’t the one who adopted me. TJ was originally who adopted me and his partner at the time was David. They had their falling-out, and he is with his current partner Scott, and I’d say that’s my dad. I guess step-dad would be the word for it, but that sounds weird to me.

Really at that point, as long as I’d been in foster care, I would have taken anybody, but it was kind of an instant thing. It’s different from what most people think, they just sat me in the back office, and were like, “Hey, these two guys are going to come check you out. They’re interested in being your dads, are you interested?” And I was like, “Sign me up!” I was eight, getting ready to turn nine. David peeked around the corner and looked at me, and I kind of looked at him, and right then I was like, “Oh well, these are going to be my parents.” I always have had friends that were very accepting. Even when I was younger, that was one of the parameters I had. You either had to be okay with it or you weren’t okay with me.

Vacation…

When they first took me to the ocean, that’s what I remember most. It was right in the beginning so I was around 9 or 10. We went to Florida, Fort Lauderdale. I honestly had no clue, I was so young, I guess I just pictured a big lake. I jumped right in. I’ve always been someone who loves the water, really, so I was all about it.

A Room of His Own…

You know, I had never had my own room. When I got to the house that was one of the first things that my dads explained, both of them, that I was going to have my own space, and I think that’s probably the best example of how things changed for me. A little attention, stuff like that — that I was never used to. The biggest thing that TJ taught me was social etiquette. I’ve always kind of been a social flower, but TJ really taught me how to channel that into something productive. The importance of being polite and trying to build social relationships with people and how to be respectful, and stuff like that.

Suburbia…

I don’t think my dad would agree, but I enjoy being in the suburbs. The city seems like a good thing, there’s the hustle and bustle, and I like to be around things, but at the same time when I go home I don’t like to feel crowded, and that’s the city. Being that close together just freaks me out. At the same time, way out in some place rural, that’s just too secluded. I think suburbs are just a good mix.

Putting Together the Pieces…

I’m working. I work over at Rent-A-Center. I want to go back to school eventually—that’s something I want to pay for myself. I think I want to go back for some police-related work, maybe a detective job. I’ve always liked mystery and trying to figure stuff out before it happens. A lot of people get annoyed because I’m really good at predicting things in movies, like they think I’ve seen it already. Stuff like that. I have good attention to detail. It’s always seemed interesting to me, putting together the pieces. When it comes to people, I think I’m really good at that. People are always surprised, it’s like a weird ability I have. Even based off a text I can tell how someone’s feeling that day. You would think that’s not even possible, but I think there’s even patterns to the way people write.

Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down…

My favorite author is probably David Foster Wallace. I really like his style. He has a way of bringing home the point, without, I guess, trying to be overly wordy or trying to sound too smart. He’s relatable, which is probably why I like him. I don’t like Ray Bradbury at all. Fahrenheit 451 is a book I remember that I really disliked. For me, he’s too obvious of a writer. There has to be some subtlety, and to me he’s just right to the point. That makes a good pen pal letter but not a good book.

[Writing] has always been something I’ve wanted to do, but finding the time is very difficult. I’ve had some kind of out-there ideas. I feel like I could start it and get a good way into it, but I think if I was interrupted, it’d be hard to come back to. I’m one of those people that if I don’t finish something right away, it’s probably not going to get done.

Isaiah grew up in Colorado and still lives there. His parents are TJ and Scott. His favorite superhero is Ironman, and his favorite food is sandwiches (he realizes that’s weird; you’re supposed to say something like Italian.) He particularly likes Reubens.