Post # 1 - BIO

My name is John Ling and this is my FIRST blog post on Google Blogger!  This is a brief auto-biography.


I was born in Las Vegas, NV in 1966, so I was a child of the 70s and a teen of the 80s.  I saw bussing when I was in grade school shortly after moving to Los Angeles in 1976, and I remember racial tensions between the "home" kids and the "bussed" outsiders from a mainly Hispanic part of town.  Not fond memories and it was a very confusing time.


I dropped out of high school at the beginning of my senior year.  After having a truly wonderful junior high school experience, I quickly became disillusioned with high school upon entering in 10th grade.  To me, my teachers seemed mostly uninterested in my success as a student, and though my school wasn't the roughest in Los Angeles Unified, it had it's share of gang activity.  During my high school experience, I was mugged 3 times and punched in the face by a gang member on the public bus going home from school.


I soon met my first wife while on a family trip during Christmas to Kansas City, where we would visit my dad's sister every year.  we became quasi high school sweet hearts, I was 19, she was 17 and just graduating about the time I moved there in 1986.  We were together for 8 years, marrying in 1994.  While Jen and I were together, after my music career didn't pan out as I had hoped, I stumbled back into school at Santa Monica College in 1990 after moving back to Los Angeles in 1988 and began my 8 year collegiate career full of twists and turns.


After, well, quite a few major changes, I graduated with a BS Ed. in Biology from the University of KS in 1998.  This former high school drop out managed to graduate with distinction with above a 3.75 GPA. It was at that time that Jen and I were splitting up so finishing my "fifth year" to get my teaching certificate was trumped by my need to get my own place and work full time.  So, I figured I'd soon go back to finish.


Well, here we are 2012 and I finally made it back.  


Since Jen and I split, I was married and recently divorced again; Kelly and I were together about 8 years.  We had a dream of running a bed and breakfast, so after living in San Diego for a few years, we decided to quit our jobs, sell our obnoxiously overpriced home and buy a B&B in Garibaldi on the Oregon coast.  This venture did not end up so well since we lost the business and our marriage, but I have a beautiful, vivacious, intelligent wonderful 8 year old daughter as a result.  


I now live in Gresham with my partner Leanne and we've been together now just over 2 years.  I have my daughter Enya on the weekends and she and Leanne's older kids (19 year old Hailey and 22 year old Corey) have bonded quite famously - especially Enya and Hailey.  Life has just become very busy again with starting my MAT program and I look forward to earning my degree and becoming certified to teach high school biology, perhaps chemistry too, or middle school science.  My odyssey to become a teacher is finally in its home stretch.