Michael Brooks is a 16-year-old junior who attends Birmingham Community Charter High School. This is his second year going to this school and he went to Chatsworth Charter High School last year. Michael likes sports, football to be exact, and his favorite team is the Pittsburgh Steelers. He isn’t one of those fans who watches every single game or gets extremely angry when the team loses or doesn’t make the Super Bowl. Also, he used to play football but didn’t have the time for it. After high school, he wants to go to college and study or major in business or engineering but he hasn’t decided yet; hopefully, he will in due time. He’s also funny, and enjoys being outside the beach is his favorite place to go and his favorite color is black.

Michaels’s high school experience has been a rollercoaster and nothing like the movies. In his freshman year, he was a little chubby kid who wasn’t too troubled but got into things sometimes with his friends. He played on the football team at Birmingham, and he was a linebacker although he wanted to be a running back. He found out he made a really good linebacker starting on JV, and he played until the spring semester.  To pass the time, he would go to the McDonalds near the school which all the students went to after school. It was so cramped in there you would thought a famous chef was making the burgers. In the summer, he had to transfer because he went to stay with his grandma in the Porter Rancher area and he ended up going to Chatsworth High School. His experience there was extremely different from Birmingham. He was absent from school his grades went down and he almost failed the year but he’s glad to be back at Birmingham and thriving.

Michael’s love for football grew around middle school. He was into soccer because his cousin whom he looked up to played, but Michael always practiced with him and never actually joined a team. Michael’s first year playing football was in 6th grade and he played for a team called the Valley Thunder. One of the coaches’ sons wrestled and went to school with Michael and that’s how he got the information for the team. His first year didn’t go as well as he tore his ACL in his first game but that didn’t stop him from trying out again in his 9th-grade year. That’s when he played linebacker at Birmingham and he had a very good year. He liked to lift weights and practice even though he would be tired every day. It was all worth it to him when he put on his helmet on game day. In his 10th grade year, he played a new position he hadn’t played before and he was a cornerback. He liked this position better than ever and he was good at it and enjoyed it but that was his last year playing football and now he’s focused on working and accumulating money.

Michael wants to go to a community college for two years and then he wants to transfer to UC Santa Barbara. He wants to do it this way because everybody around him has told him that’s the cheapest way to get through college. He chose UC Santa Barbara because the campus looks very good and it’s by the beach and Michael loves the beach. His grandma used to take him there all the time when he was younger. This was before she passed, so every time he goes to the beach, it’s his way to connect with her. Michael is unsure what he wants to study. His whole life people have told him he should be a lawyer but he thinks it is too much school. He’s still unsure, but he has other ideas like business or something with engineering because that sounds easier to accomplish. He has one more year to go in high school so hopefully he figures it out.