From September 1990. One of my first assignments my freshman year in college from my Journalism 100 class was to write an autobiography about myself. This is what I wrote.
It was sunny without a cloud in the sky, the temperature was at least 110°—a typical day in Mesa, Arizona—at least as far as I know it was. The day was April 25, 1972 and Brett Allen Bearce had been born.
Only six months after my life began, my family moved to southern Arizona, a town that is today one of the biggest drug belts in the country, Sierra Vista. Little did I know that this move was only the beginning. In 1976 my father’s military transfer came through and my family moved to Japan.
The next three years my family (which includes mom and dad and my older sister Alyssa) toured Japan, learning their customs. The monument I remember the most is the Hiroshima Peace Park. It is a monument dedicated to the lives lost by the U.S.’s atomic bomb. My mom taught small schoolchildren English and my dad progressed through the military ranks of Army intelligence. We lived on Sigamihara Military Base and I was raised in the properly, as a “military brat.”
After three years, my father was moved back to the U.S. – Albuquerque, NM. My life thus far had been pretty uneventful, except of course the touring in Japan and a small vacation in Indonesia. I was in first grade when we moved to Albuquerque and led the typical child life.
Then my dad retired from the Army and the family once again moved back to Sierra Vista. The company my dad worked for went under and we moved back to Albuquerque. I became very active when I began high school. I was class president for two years, a section editor for three years on the newspaper (finally building myself up to Editor-in-Chief), and a member of the speech team for a year. I was fortunate enough to host one of the first Soviet exchange students ever to come to the U.S. The term culture shock is an understatement compared to the societal change she experienced. The first day she was there, we went to the store for some tea. When I took her to the tea aisle and told her she had her choice to pick one, she didn’t know how to respond. She was very overwhelmed.
My senior year brought in three of the accolades of which I am proudest. In early November, the Sunport Optimist Club named me Albuquerque Teenager of the Year. In March, the New Mexico Scholastic Press Association named me 1990 New Mexico Journalist of the Year and a week later the National Scholastic Press Association named me third place winner of the National Journalist of the Year.
I graduated in May from Del Norte High School in Albuquerque anticipating my job at Tech Reps, Inc. as a Proofreader level 1 and of course college.