Ian Kline

I grew up in rural New Mexico, in the Southern towns of Carlsbad and Artesia. My childhood was full of imaginary worlds that my brother and I made in the backyard, and it was also full of a steady diet of books. At the age of 12, my father (an ex-drug addict) decided to take the pastorship of a church 30 miles away. This changed me in a lot of ways, and I learned how to be an adaptive social being rather than the slightly odd bookworm role I had always played before.

By the time high school came around, I spent the majority of time at the school: student council meetings, cross country and swimming practice, choir practice, drama practice. I was always doing something, and sometimes I wished I spent more time figuring myself out instead of rushing around 'padding my resume'. The biggest regret was that I have was that I didn't have a very good relationship with my parents at this time, I just pushed them away and basically scheduled them out of my life. I was angry that I had to live with "that dumb church" and "that dumb religion." I was a pretty hateful person and a depressive one at that.

Anyway, at the end of high school my parents decided to go on sabbatical and take a break, the ministry had been pretty hard on both of them. I realized at that point that I didn't have a very deep relationship with them, and not only that, I had been so busy with my own life that I never developed spiritually. I gave my heart to Jesus Christ and I decided to move with them to Prescott, AZ instead of going to the University I had planned to attend in Texas. Coming to Prescott was the best decision I could have made at the time.

After coming to Prescott, I really had no clue what I was going to do with my life since I had pretty much given up my dreams to come here. I decided to attend Yavapai College, and I guess I had a pretty rocky start. I quit after the first semester and wound up working for a small landscaping business. During this time, I decided to attend my church's Spanish services, and it was there that I met my best friends. After careful consideration, I decided to return to Yavapai and get my degree in Spanish.

I was accepted into the Honors Programs, and I've had a great experience here. I think the biggest thing I've learned at Yavapai is the putting my faith in context to the 'real world'. I've engaged in great conversations with people that are polar opposites of myself, yet this has had me really thinking about why I think the way I do. Not only that, I've been able to use the knowledge, such as Spanish, that I've gained to obtain new perspectives.

My best friends and I have a great time, sharing our cultures; and they've shared tremendous stories with me (my best friend grew up on the streets of Mexico City and now lives a great life in comparison). I don't know what exactly I'm going to do from here; I have a plethora (good CHP word) of options: teaching, nursing, translation, or mission work. But I know that God and life have been very good to me, and wish everyone in the College Honors Program the best of luck.

-Ian

P.S. The pretty lady in this picture is my wife, Priscella. She helps me be the man I was meant to be!