DC Native
Born and raised in Washington, D.C., I have come a long way from the days of despair and lost hope for the residents of this great city. Being born two months early on one late November day in 1985, my first moments on this earth gave a preview of how my life would be. Brought up in a single family home in the Deanwood area during a period of much struggle and internal turmoil, battling the everyday obstacles became a training course on how to survive in today's world.
I am a product of the failures of our DC Public School System. After fighting my way through the daily battles at H.D. Woodson Senior High School, having to constantly walk through street corners filled with dope fiends and winos, sit in classrooms with no heat or a/c, teachers who were more concerned with having sex with students over actually teaching something. By the time I reached the 12th grade, I had no passion or concern for my education and dropped out. I was completely turned off and had no thrill for life. Luckily, I woke up one day the following year, got my GED and made changes in my life.
Now residing in the Fort Stanton area of Ward 8 for the last few years, I am seeking creative ways to make a change in our community. With a shrinking budget, local jobs not coming fast enough, violent crime on the rise, I feel there is no better opportunity today for me to stand up and answer the call to change the direction of our city starting from the ground up. Many of our Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners have failed to be the front line fighters they were meant to be. A number of our Commissioners serve in complete invisibility, with no one even aware that the position exist. Poor service is not fair to me, it's not fair to my neighbors, and it's not fair to our entire ward. Change will come soon enough.
Anthony Lorenzo is a native Washingtonian, living in Ward 8. He's currently enrolled in Penn State University majoring in Political Science.
I am a product of the failures of our DC Public School System. After fighting my way through the daily battles at H.D. Woodson Senior High School, having to constantly walk through street corners filled with dope fiends and winos, sit in classrooms with no heat or a/c, teachers who were more concerned with having sex with students over actually teaching something. By the time I reached the 12th grade, I had no passion or concern for my education and dropped out. I was completely turned off and had no thrill for life. Luckily, I woke up one day the following year, got my GED and made changes in my life.
Now residing in the Fort Stanton area of Ward 8 for the last few years, I am seeking creative ways to make a change in our community. With a shrinking budget, local jobs not coming fast enough, violent crime on the rise, I feel there is no better opportunity today for me to stand up and answer the call to change the direction of our city starting from the ground up. Many of our Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners have failed to be the front line fighters they were meant to be. A number of our Commissioners serve in complete invisibility, with no one even aware that the position exist. Poor service is not fair to me, it's not fair to my neighbors, and it's not fair to our entire ward. Change will come soon enough.
Anthony Lorenzo is a native Washingtonian, living in Ward 8. He's currently enrolled in Penn State University majoring in Political Science.
