I chose Encinitas because we'd go to the beach here. Some of my friends were into surfing and the surf industry. They all lived in Leucadia and Encinitas. Not only are there good breaks down there, it's just a cool place. It's a good place to live. My parents said, "You should come home. You don't have any money, and let us help you take care of Chris." I thought, "No, I didn't have my son so my parents could raise him. I had my son, and I'll raise him." When I moved to Encinitas it was magic. The beaches were beautiful and the community was very laid back. Everything east of El Camino Real was grass with a few houses. The flower fields were in bloom everywhere. It was a community where we had almost zero money. I was making totally minimal wage. You'd go to the beach or send your kid to school and it wasn't like anybody noticed because it was just that kind of community. Very friendly.

I applied at UCSD, got accepted and then I graduated with highest honors. I worked my butt off in school. I got loans, grants and scholarships so that I only had to work part time when I went to school- because you couldn't raise a child, work full time, and go to UCSD in those days. It was pretty much a brain school. You went because you really wanted to learn and spend a lot of time there. When I went back to college, I stayed in Encinitas, but it was unfortunate because I moved around a lot. I just love this area though. It was very artsy and funky, full of surfers and retired people. People used to go topless at Stone Steps Beach and Beacon Street and no one cared. We'd play volleyball and there used to be a Stone Steps surfing contest every year. Somebody used to run the electricity from their house for the band and there would be dancing and I remember I always played the tambourine with the band. My son would be there and there would be other kids as well as adults. It was kind of like a local institution. Things didn't get out of hand. You didn't have fights. The Flower Festival started here too. It was just this community event. There was a 20 mile bike ride you could sign up for and get a free T-shirt. This was in the early 70's, and the place has changed a lot since, but that essence is what was very special.

After going back to school and getting my degree, I started working at UCSD's campus programming. We had programs on depression and ADHD because we had the best scientists in the country. We had all kinds of great programs like the Learn at Lunch programs that interested the staff each month. I worked with the faculty and staffing assistance program on those, not to mention that my regular job that was in the library cataloging as well as my outreach and instruction to teach students how to do research. So I did all of this and then ended up running for office.