Who I Am..

Hello all, my name is Thomas Huitt-Johnson. I was born in Sacramento, California and moved to St. Joseph, Missouri shortly after. However, I moved back to California until I was 14 years old when my family decided to stay located in Missouri and I have been here ever since! I am 20 years old and of white and native american descent. I am not a big person, I am only 5'5 and weigh around 120 pounds, and because of my attributes I was not able to play all the sports I wanted to. I loved football growing up, but I was never going to be good at it. The same with basketball, although I did play high school basketball for two years before I decided to focus on something that made more sense to me: boxing.

I have been boxing since I was 10 years old, but really didn't take it serious until I gave up basketball. I have been able travel all over the United States (Colorado Springs, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Atlanta, Chicago, among other places). I wasn't always the best boxer but I have always showed that I am very capable of having potential in the sport. I boxed for the United States National Team in 2009, right before I started attending college, and that was the first time I was ever considered the best at anything in my life. I fought internationally three times against Great Britain, Ireland and Mexico. Although I was only able to beat Ireland, that is still cool that I was able to represent my country.
I have always been a sports guru, that's just because growing up with my family I had to be. Because of that, and my love for sports, I decided when I was younger that if I couldn't go professional in any sport I would do something involved around it and that is to write about it.

I am a Journalism Major at Missouri Western and also currently work at the St. Joseph News-Press. A lot of my stories have made front page and this was even before I turned 20. I am really thankful for that. Like I said before, I grew up in a sports environment and that is because I have four older brothers. They have always been around me to help me and make sure I do not make the same mistakes they did when they were younger. Yes, I am the youngest!
I also have one sister, who is one year older than me, and my mom and dad have always been there for me too. We are a very close family and still all speak to each other frequently even though we are all older. My three older brothers (Darrel, Steven and Dustin) are all managers or supervisors at a plant nearby while my brother Joey is going to college just like me. He wants to run his own restaurant in a few years and he is a really good chef. Jessica, my only sister, is going to be a nurse just like our mother, and my father is a truck driver and has been ever since he left the marines when he was 22. That is how my mom and dad met, and that is how we left Sacramento for St. Joseph. A lot of times people ask me why or how, well because my dad is originally from here and my mom from California,

and when my dad was in the marines he was stationed there and that is where they met. We lived there for years but my dad loves St. Joe so we are here.
I am a fun person to be around and try to be helpful to people I know. Although a quiet person, I am always there for people and that is just because people have always been there for me when I need help. I have great friends that I am close to and that is always nice to have. I wouldn't want to trade my life for anybody because I love my life so much. I hope to stay at the News-Press until I graduate and we'll see what happens there. I plan to graduate in about three years. Boxing has taken a back seat to college,

and it should, but I still attempt to do very well in that sport and we'll see what happens in the future. Thank you for reading my blob and I appreciate it very much!