Mikaile Ford (12) is a current Senior at Santiago High School and plans to attend a four-year college in the fall. He is a transgender male who enjoys writing and spends most of his time playing the guitar and singing, weight lifting, or hanging out with his girlfriend. He is following his dream of becoming a civil rights attorney by interning at his uncle and aunt’s law firm where he is able to sit and listen to their debates in the courtroom and get a feel of how it would be for him. Mikaile goes by Kai for short and would still like to continue in Track and field throughout college, but he finds it will be difficult, seeing that he is a trans man and will not be able to run as fast as the other guys yet. Although he is busy, he finds time to volunteer for his community ranging from helping out at shelters and senior homes to rebuilding community gardens, to celebrating the community and hosting car parades and etc. He’s very interested in helping the community and he believes that by helping communities receive the justice they’ve been wrongly stripped of, the communities will finally find the peace they deserve. By starting with one person, he believes we can change the world for the better, but he knows it will be a long journey and will start by being the change he wishes to see in others. Kai has taught himself how to play acoustic guitar since he was 5 years old. He’s recently picked up on electric and bass guitar as he practices his music with his dad. Kai believes that music has helped him mentally stabilize himself as he struggled with gender identity issues and self-hatred for years on his own. He loves to sing and occasionally dance with his girlfriend as she teaches him new TikTok dances each day. He plays with his dogs and races them in his backyard to practice for Track and field. He runs on the Santiago Track team with the events, long jump, triple jump, 4 by 100 relay, and open 100. He believes in advocating for the people whose voices are muffled in the crowd. The people who struggle to fight for themselves. He also enjoys skateboarding outside with his twin and girlfriend. In the future, Kai aspires to pursue a career in Civil law and continue his family’s legacy, running his uncle and aunt’s law firm. He can add value by becoming the change the world needs to see more of and encouraging that change in other people as well. You may reach him at his school email, [email protected].