PAGE A2, KEIZERTIMES, AUGUST 9, 2019
YOUTH HOMELESSNESS
Cultural differences put additional pressure on
one teen despite outstanding achievement
By LAUREN MURPHY
Of the Keizertimes
Gian Carlo is not an aver-
age high school graduate. He is
going to University of Oxford
this fall on a full scholarship and
he’s currently homeless.
“I’ve come here (to the shel-
ter) because my parents kicked
me out as soon as I turned 18,”
he said.
Gian Carlo is one of a
half-dozen residents at Tay-
lor’s House, the fi rst space in
Salem-Keizer dedicated to
homeless youth in more than a
decade. Keizertimes spoke with
him as part of a continuing se-
ries giving voice to youth ex-
periencing homelessness.
Before Gian Carlo found
himself without shelter, he was
responsible for paying for ev-
erything. Cultural differences
dictated he take responsibility
for himself and, more or less,
mandated he leave home at 18.
His desire to further his ed-
ucation compounded the costs.
The international baccalaureate
(IB) exam, college application
fees and rent were just a few of
his expenses. Despite oppor-
tunities, he didn’t go on many
college visits because plane
tickets are expensive.
“I only managed to go to
one in Iowa because they (the
school) paid for it,” he said.
Between work, school and
sleep, Gian Carlo was running
out of time and money.
“I went into this economic
breakdown. It was much better,
much more convenient for me
to not be at the house,” he said.
Though most don’t take
kindly to being kicked out of
their home he takes it in stride.
“It was a good thing,” he
said.
Now that he has moved
out and graduated, he saves the
money he earns from his job as
a cook in addition to the work
he does as a tutor and a guitar
teacher. Gian Carlo is saving his
money for school.
“I’m going off to the Uni-
versity of Oxford in the fall,
I’m quite excited about that,”
he said.
He is also saving for a quan-
tum biology convention in
Mexico.
Gian Carlo grew up in Pan-
ama. Raised by his aunt, uncle,
grandmother and great-grand-
mother since his father aban-
doned him at birth and his
mother was always working.
“I was lonely most of the
time,” he said.
The river next to his aunt
and uncle’s house was one of
his favorite places.
“I spent a lot of time in the
river, running around, running
wild,” he said. That’s where he
discovered his interest in quan-
tum biology.
“I’ve always been more in-
tuitive, trying to fi gure out how
fast does the river go? I’d look
up at the clouds and classify
them,” he said.
His attention to detail drew
him to the molecular level,
which is quantum mechanics.
“The systems that fascinate
me the most are biological
systems because they are es-
sentially physically impossible,”
he said. He talked about plants
defying gravity by pulling water
up from the ground and bacte-
ria living at 100 degrees Celsius;
things that shouldn’t be possible
in theory but exist anyway.
Gian Carlo also likes to play
his guitar, which he named Ro-
meo.“I don’t sing and I don’t
know any songs, I just kind of
improvise,” he said.
He had a teacher for a lit-
tle while, but was mostly self
taught. He started learning
classical music and then stud-
ied fl amenco. He learns by ear,
picking out chords that sound
good together.
“People think I’m crazy be-
cause I carry my guitar around
everywhere,” he said. “But most
people wouldn’t call Albert
Einstein crazy for needing a
piano to write mathematics
equations.”
Though initially guitar and
biology don’t seem connected
,Gian Carlo sees connections
everywhere, “The more you
think the easier it is to see that
everything is connected some-
how. Musical thinking is anoth-
er part of mathematics.”
He has a very holistic world
view; he could fi nd a connec-
tion in everything from Shake-
speare to calculus. He applies
this to science by bringing
physics and biology together in
his ideal profession.
“The scientist needs to get
over the stereotypes and re-
alize, as a scientist, they aren’t
studying just physics or biolo-
gy, they’re studying nature,” he
said.
Part of this is because of his
education. In Panama, he said,
“They focus a lot on discipline,
the students are afraid of think-
ing out of the box.”
The Panamanian education
system is more rigorous. When
American students are learning
algebra their counterparts in
Panama are learning pre-cal-
culus.
When they moved to the
U.S., Gian Carlo didn’t speak
English, but he quickly learned.
He found America strange be-
cause of how disconnected its
residents are from their com-
munities.
“In Panama, you do know
your neighbor, you at least know
their name,” he said. “When
we moved here we lived in an
apartment and I didn’t know
my neighbor’s name.”
He felt the school system
was similarly disconnected.
Gian Carlo said he may re-
tire to be a teacher or profes-
sor; but as of right now he just
wants to be a scientist. “I want
to know every single detail of
everything. The more detail the
better,” he said.
Knife-wielding
preteen may
face charges
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
An 11-year-old girl was referred to the Juvenile District At-
torney’s Offi ce (JDAO) after brandishing a knife at adults in two
locations Friday, Aug. 2.
Keizer police offi cers fi rst responded to the Pour House Sa-
loon on River Road North, at 9 a.m., after a report that three
children had climbed on top of the building’s roof. When con-
fronted by an adult, the caller reported a young girl had bran-
dished a knife and threatened them.
Offi cers were unable to locate the trio, but a second report of
a disturbance between “a group of adults and several juveniles”
came in at 10:13 a.m., this time in the 4700 block of Elizabeth
Street North. Initial reports were that the kids were threatening
an older male with a knife.
Police responded to the scene and one of the juveniles was
taken into custody and referred to the JDAO for consideration
on a charge of unlawful use of a weapon based on the fi rst in-
cident. She was released to a guardian. Charges in the second
incident had not been recommended as of press time.
Museum shines light on forensics
CSI: Salem is a histori-
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As the capital city, Salem has
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Exhibit is open until Satur-
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Admission is $8 at the Wil-
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Mill Street S.E. Suite 200 in
Salem.
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