Hello

Jedi Knight Sophia Oceana

Chapter Affiliation/Region

South East Regional Jedi

South Carolina, U.S.A

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Year Knighted/Knightings

International Jedi Federation Knight (2022)

F.A. Knight, TOTJO Knight, Praxeum Knight

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Jedi Path

Sage Path

Mystic Path

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What first sparked your interest in the Jedi path?

I would honestly trace it back to around 2010 as the point where the Jedi path truly started for me, even though I had been a big Star Wars fan since I was a kid. There was always something about Star Wars that resonated with me in a way that felt deeper than just enjoying it as a story. It made sense to things that were happening in my life, and even as a child, I would notice things about myself or experiences I had and wonder if that was the Force, or if there was something more going on that other people were not really talking about. As I got older, though, I started doing what a lot of people do, which is discounting those things, pushing them aside, not talking about them, and trying not to think too hard about them. Then in 2010, I was going through probably the darkest period of my life, the worst timeframe of my life, and I happened to stumble across a Star Wars book that at the time was the only book I really had access to. I read it over and over and over again, and the book was Darth Bane: Path of Destruction. What is funny is that it is not even a Jedi book, but I always looked at it through a Jedi perspective because I connected so deeply to what was happening in it. I did not read it and think, oh, maybe I should be a Sith. What I felt was that I understood that disconnect, that inner darkness, that trauma, that feeling of being cut off spiritually, mentally, and physically because of things you have gone through and not yet faced. I understood what it meant to be held back by trauma and unable to connect, and I saw in that story the need for shadow work, the need to go inward and face what was blocking you. That book helped me tie together so many things that had happened throughout my life, and it made the path start making sense to me. So even though I had always loved Star Wars, I would say that was the moment it really sparked into something real.

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Philosophy & Journey

How did you come to the Jedi path, and when did it become more than an interest?

It became more than an interest when I stopped just resonating with the ideas and started actively looking for other Jedi and for a place where I could actually walk the path. Around 2016, I felt like it was time to try to find others, and it really is amazing how the Jedi path unfolds at the exact time it is supposed to. I found a local group in my area, the Charleston Kyber Harbor Council, and they were more of a lightsaber group, so I got into dueling pretty heavily because I am very competitive. I loved that side of it and threw myself into it, but I also knew there was something more I was looking for that was not fully there. A few people mentioned the wider online Jedi community, and they also warned me that there was a lot going on in that space. So I went looking for it, and when I first stuck my head in the door, it did not really go well. The way I describe it is that I stuck my head in the door and kind of slammed my fingers in the door handle, and I thought maybe I should back up and come back later. So I stepped away for a couple of years. When I came back, though, that was really when I entered the Jedi community in a deeper way, and I have not left since. By that point, I had also been in apprenticeship or mentorship under Master Setonaco at another order, and I was very quiet at first because I did not really know anyone and did not quite know what to do, so I hyper-focused on training, understanding, and learning. I pushed myself hard. Every time I got an assignment, I wanted the next one immediately. I was turning things in fast, asking for more, asking if I could have multiple assignments at once, ready to roll all the time. That was the point where this stopped being just something that interested me and became something I was living, studying, and shaping my life around.

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How do you personally define the Force?

My definition of the Force has definitely grown over time, but at this point I feel very confident in my answer, even if it sounds strange at first. The way I define the Force is that everything is me. What I mean by that is not some ego statement. I mean that you are me too, just a different version of me, and I am a different version of you. Everything is part of the same whole. The cup in front of me is me. My dog beside me is me. Everything I see, interact with, touch, and even things I do not directly see or touch are all part of the same thing. So if I harm something, I am harming myself. I am harming a part of me, and I am harming a part of you too, because we are all one in the Force. When I look in the mirror or I look at another person, I have to remember that how I treat them is how I am treating myself, because they are me within the Force. Earlier on my path, it helped to break things down into parts, like different facets or ways of understanding the Force, and I still think that can be useful because as humans we sometimes need to break things apart to study them. On the Sage path, for example, looking at things physically, mentally, and spiritually makes sense. But even then, it is still one whole. You can separate the parts to examine them, but you cannot really separate them in truth, because each part affects the others and you cannot have one without the rest. Once you understand the whole machine, you stop needing to focus only on the pieces, because you can see how everything is interconnected. So at this point in my path, the Force is all of us, all things, all parts, one whole. It is all me, and it is all you too.

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What has been the most meaningful or challenging lesson the Force has taught you?

The most challenging lesson the Force has taught me was finally realizing that the limitations I believed in were not absolute, and that in many ways I was the one holding myself inside them. I think sometimes parents, people around you, or the environments you grow up in can put limitations on you, and then you take those limitations and secure them, fortify them, and build them into walls inside yourself. I definitely did that. There were periods in my life, especially in the worst parts of it, where my mind was in a cage, my body was in a cage, and my spirit was in a cage. That is how it felt. But then, through my understanding of the Force, I came to see that if everything is me, then that cage is me too. And if the cage is me, then I am the one caging myself. If I am the one caging myself, then I am also the key, and I am also the door. So that means I can open the door. And then when you really go deeper into that, you realize there is not even truly a door, because I am the door too. Then the cage itself falls apart, because all that is left is me. That realization was incredibly meaningful and incredibly difficult, because it forced me to stop seeing myself as powerless. It forced me to realize that the barriers were not final, and that if I wanted freedom, healing, growth, and movement, I had to stop reinforcing the cage and start understanding my role in unlocking it.

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What continues to motivate you to walk this path?

What keeps motivating me is the knowing that there are no limitations unless I accept them, and a lot of that shows up for me through dreams, vision, and the way I imagine possibility. I have some interesting dreams, and when I see something happen in a dream, I take that seriously. When people say dream big, I really feel that. If I see something in a dream, then to me that means it can happen while I am awake too. If I have seen it, then it is possible. Why not? Who gets to tell me that I cannot make something happen if I already know it can exist? That is a huge motivator for me. If I say I want to make a difference, or I want to change the world, I believe I can, because again, it is all the Force, and I am the Force, and the Force is me. So if I am changing myself, then I am changing the world anyway. That belief keeps me moving. It keeps me building. It keeps me pushing. It keeps me from accepting stagnation. The path continues because I continue to believe that more is possible, that doors can open, that things can be shaped, and that if I can see it, feel it, and know it, then I can work toward making it real.

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Mentorship & Leadership

What responsibility do you believe comes with holding the title of Knight?

I can only really ascribe this to myself, because I can only hold myself to my own standards, and I hold myself to very high standards. For me, the responsibility of being a Knight is to hold the torch and be the guiding light for the next generation of Jedi, or the next crop of Jedi coming up, whether they are older than me, younger than me, or the same age as me. I believe that part of my responsibility is to open doors, because someone had to open them for me, and where they did not, I had to open them myself. So if I once believed that I had limitations, and I know there are other Jedi standing there saying they cannot do something because nobody else has done it, then somebody has to show them that yes, it can be done. Somebody has to put their heart into it and make it real. That means when it comes to living up to what I believe a Jedi is supposed to embody, I am always going to bring the best of myself and give the best of myself to everyone around me. If I do not believe I can give the best of myself, then to me that means I need to do better, because that is the standard I put on myself. I do not know how to come any way other than one hundred percent, every single time, because I feel like seekers, apprentices, and Jedi are looking up to me to do this. So I have to come through. I see myself as a builder, an architect, a designer, a shaper. If people say, can there be this, I want to say yes, yes there can, here it is, take it, make it happen. That is my job. That is my responsibility. I wake up every day doing that.

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What does being a mentor mean to you personally?

Being a mentor means a lot to me, because it means someone saw something in me and believed that I could help them get where they are trying to go. That means they trust me, and trust is a huge thing in my world. It takes a lot to build a bridge of trust, and it does not take much to damage it. So if someone is trusting me enough to walk with them on that journey, that matters deeply to me. To be a mentor means I have to be there. I have to show up. I have to help them and say, look, we can do this, we can work together, and I will walk with you the whole time if you are really trying to get there. I cannot do it for you. I cannot carry you to the destination if you are not willing to move, but if you are willing to move, I am going to be right there with you. And then once we get there, we can celebrate that together. It is also interesting because I think sometimes you realize you have been a mentor long before anyone gives you the title. People around you, people at work, people in the community, your own kids, they start looking to you for wisdom and guidance before you even fully name it. Then one day you realize, oh, I guess people are looking to me for something. I guess that means I know something. So being a mentor is both an honor and a responsibility. It means being trusted enough to help someone along their path and showing up in a way that honors that trust.

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How would you describe your mentoring style?

My mentoring style depends a lot on the apprentice and what they are trying to achieve, because I do not think one exact approach works for everybody. If an apprentice tells me they are great at one thing but horrible at another, then I know we are going to do some of what they are already strong in, but we are definitely going to spend time on the areas they avoid. I believe in raising all ships together. If you work on your highest strengths and your lowest weaknesses, everything rises. But if you keep avoiding the things you are bad at, you are never going to grow in those areas. I live by that myself. If there is something I am horrible at and I know I am avoiding it, I will tell myself to go ahead and get it done and master it, just so I can say I did it, because I cannot stand being bad at something forever. I can live with getting to the point where I am at least somewhat proficient, but I do not want to keep running from it. You never know what you are going to need until you need it, and very often the thing you have been avoiding is the exact thing the path is going to ask you to use later. So my mentoring style is about preparation, challenge, and pushing into the places people would rather avoid. That is how the path unfolds. Preparation plus opportunity equals success, and if you are not preparing, then you are not going to be ready when the Force puts the opportunity in front of you.

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What kind of mentee do you feel naturally compatible with?

I think I could work with different kinds of people, and I even like challenging myself sometimes, especially with people who feel very limited, because that used to be me at one point. But I do feel naturally drawn toward someone who is deeply interested in the Force, someone who wants to break down those self-made barriers and limiting beliefs, and someone who wants to become a builder or a shaper. I connect well with people who want to help move the community forward, because I believe a community will stagnate if no one is willing to break new ground, lead, risk failure, and open up new areas for growth. We will always need supporters and helpers, but we also need people who are willing to hold the torch at the front, go into the jungle, cut down the weeds, and make room for something new to exist so others can build on top of it. That is not easy work, because it means risking failure, and failure is what most people fear the most. So I think I am naturally compatible with the kind of mentee who is willing to push, willing to question limitation, willing to grow, and willing to risk not knowing in order to become more.

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What area do you specialize in as a Jedi and mentor?

I would say I specialize in Force techniques, Force abilities, and helping people understand and get to know their own body. That matters to me deeply because if everything is you within the Force, then understanding yourself means you start understanding everything else in the universe too. The body is an incredible gift. There is no mechanism or machine ever made that is more beautiful or more complex than the body we have been given, so to neglect that gift feels like such a tragedy to me. People put so many limitations on their bodies, and again, that used to be me. But I have seen so much be done with the body, both in my own life and in my career, that I know it is capable of incredible things when it is in the right conditions. So as a Jedi and a mentor, I specialize in that intersection of Force understanding, body awareness, and learning how to stop seeing yourself as limited.

Is there a mentor or a few people in the Jedi Community that helped you grow as a Jedi?

There are so many people that have influenced me on the path that the list could go on forever, because the Jedi path really is like picking up pieces from different people along the way. It feels like a video game where you get one item from this person, another item from that person, and eventually you realize those things fit together into something bigger that can open another door. But if I am going to start somewhere, I absolutely have to give a big shout-out to Master Setonaco. I definitely put her through a lot in the beginning, always asking for the next assignment, always pushing, always wanting more, but she has also been a huge help because she is so knowledgeable about the history of the Jedi community, and that has always been one of my weak spots. That knowledge has helped me navigate things and avoid mistakes from the past so I can try to better myself and better the community. I also have to give credit to the mentor from another temple where I was knighted, because even though we did not connect in apprenticeship the way I would have wanted, he pushed me in areas that were deeply needed in the Jedi community, especially around understanding people and psychology, and I carried some of that into the Sage path. I also have to shout out Master Angelus, because the spiritual journeys he led at gatherings were unforgettable for me. I remember each one vividly, and each time I saw exactly what I needed to see at that moment. One in particular truly changed the trajectory of my life. I also want to give flowers to Jedi Karen, because she was the first person I saw in this community really trying to teach Force techniques, and if she had not been doing that and putting it at the forefront, I do not know if I would be doing that now. Miko also mattered a great deal because when I was doubting my work, doubting my videos, doubting whether I should create and put things out there, he was the one telling me to stop overthinking, make it, put it out there, and keep moving. And then lastly, I always have to shout out my two twins, Jedi Knight Justitia and Jedi Knight Adastrea, because if it were not for those conversations back in the Jedi Summit days, about one day making something happen, we would not be here doing this now. They are like my blood. They matter that much to me.

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Character & Growth

What do you believe are some of your core personality traits?

I would say one of my strongest core traits is that I am fiercely loyal, loyal to a fault even. Even if I know something may not work out in my favor, I will still stand by someone to the end. I do not really know another way to be. I am very dedicated, and I am a person of my word. If I say I am going to do something, I am going to do it, no matter what. And it is not just that I will do it eventually. It will be there, it will be done, and it will be done the best way I can do it. I will show up every time. I will put my heart into it. I do not want to give anyone anything less than my best. That is just how I am built. Everything else about me kind of comes from that. The loyalty, the dedication, the consistency, the showing up, the heart. That is the core.

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What strengths help you serve your community well?

The strengths that help me serve my community well are the same ones that define me at the core. I show up. I am loyal. I am dedicated. I put my heart into what I do. If I say I am going to be there, I am there. If something needs to be done, I want it done right, and I want to give the best of myself to make that happen. I think another strength is that I genuinely carry a lot of love into the spaces I enter, even if that love sometimes shows up through humor, challenge, or pushing people to be more than they think they can be. I try to bring kindness, energy, effort, and consistency, and I do not really know how to do anything halfway. That same drive that pushes me in my own path is the thing I bring into my service to others. I want to hold people up, help them see what is possible, and make sure the space around them is stronger because I showed up in it.

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What areas are you actively working on within yourself?

I am actively working on the fact that my strongest qualities can also become my weakest points. That fierce loyalty and dedication, that high standard I put on myself, can absolutely become a double-edged sword. I do not know if I will ever reach a day where I feel like I have done enough. I am always asking myself if I did enough for this person, if I am doing enough for everyone, if I am holding up the world enough, if I could have pushed harder, gone farther, done more. Even if someone says, Sophia, you literally just moved the bus, I would still be standing there thinking, yeah, but I probably could have pushed it a few more feet. That is how hard I am on myself. So that is one of the biggest areas I am working on, learning how to balance that drive with a little more grace, because I know the same thing that makes me strong can also exhaust me if I do not watch it.

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What does integrity mean to you in daily life?

Integrity, of course, is doing what is right even when no one is watching, but for me it goes even deeper than that in daily life. It means always doing what I know is right in my heart. It means always showing up as the best version of myself that I can possibly be in that moment. It means not giving people a lesser version of me if I can help it. Whether one thousand people are watching or nobody is watching, I want to give the best of myself. If I do not, that will keep me awake at night. I will think about it. I will regret it. I will replay it and think I should have done better. So integrity for me is not just about morality in a general sense. It is about consistency between what I know is right, what I say I value, and how I actually show up. It is about bringing my full self in alignment with what I believe.

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What do people often misunderstand about you?

I think one thing people misunderstand about me is that because I can be intense, serious, or even intimidating in certain situations, they do not always realize how goofy I actually am. I make bad jokes. I joke all the time. I do not take myself too seriously, even though I push myself hard. And just because I am joking does not mean I am not taking things seriously underneath that. In fact, I often use humor because I do take things seriously, and because I believe that if you can still laugh in the middle of something hard, then you still have hope. If you can laugh, you are going to make it through. I have learned that in the hardest parts of my life. There is nothing so serious that you cannot find a way to laugh at it. Sometimes you have got to laugh to keep from crying. So people sometimes misunderstand the jokes and think I am just joking all the time, when really I am often still dropping knowledge, still being serious, just in the way I know how to do it. Another thing people misunderstand is that because I work out a lot and I am very physical, they assume that the physical is my main focus on the Jedi path. It is not. I am way more spiritual than I am physical. The physical things people see me do are representations of what is already happening internally on the mental and spiritual plane. If I can do it in my heart and in my spirit, then I am going to do it externally too, because I do not really see a difference between them.

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Life Beyond the Temple

What brings you joy outside of Jedi practice?

People bring me joy. Food definitely brings me joy too, because I am absolutely a foodie, even if I cannot always eat everything I would want to. But really, people bring me a lot of joy, even though I always call myself an anti-social socialite. I love being in the mix with people. I love being in big groups, getting personal with people, letting them get things off their chest, and holding space for that. That is such a daily part of my life that it almost feels normal now. I can be in the most random place, literally just trying to buy a bag of chips, and somehow I end up in a corner of the grocery store talking to someone for two hours about the hardest things in their life. I will put the rest of the world on hold for that. People who love me and are close to me get annoyed by it sometimes, because I will put my phone down, ignore everything else, and just be fully with that person, but eventually they understand that this is just who I am and maybe what I am supposed to be doing. Taking pain off other people brings me joy. Holding that kind of weight with them brings me joy. I think of it like lifting. If I can lift physical weight, why can I not also help lift the emotional, spiritual, and mental weight someone else is carrying? Sometimes that kind of weight is heavier than anything physical. So yes, people bring me joy. Helping them brings me joy. And then my kids bring me tremendous joy. There is nothing in the world like that. I make a point of trying to still pick up my children, and that matters to me deeply. My youngest just turned ten, my daughter is eighteen, and being able to hold them, see them smile, and watch them be happy brings me more joy than I can really explain. Having kids is like having your heart running around outside your body. Seeing them happy is one of the most amazing things in the world.

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Favorite Movie/Show:

The Matrix is absolutely one of my favorites, because to me it is not just about cool action or dodging bullets. It reflects so much of what I believe spiritually. Neo could not do what everyone believed he could do until he believed it himself, and that means something to me. That idea that if I believe it, I can do it, that I can open any door, that possibility exists if I can truly align with it, is a big part of how I move through life. Dragon Ball Z is another huge one for me, especially because of the contrast between Vegeta and Goku. I always related more to Vegeta for a long time, that drive, that pride, that pressure to be great, that constant pushing to stay ahead, that identity of having to represent your blood every time you show up. But as I have gotten older, and especially as a parent and mentor, I have come to appreciate Goku much more too, because he is always pushing himself but also preparing the next generation, putting others in a position to succeed, meditating, growing spiritually, and not just physically. That means a lot to me. I also love Invincible because of the pressure of being seen as someone who always has to show up no matter what, and Superman because he represents rising to the challenge and discovering strength you did not even know you had until you had to meet the moment. I also think deeply about stories like Homelander’s, not because I excuse the harm, but because I look at the tragedy, the trauma, the lack of love, the shadow work, and what happens when someone is shaped by being treated like a monster from the beginning. I love storytelling, cinematography, screenwriting, and the deeper layers of what stories are trying to say.

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Favorite Singer/Band:

When it comes to bands, definitely Nirvana and Deftones. Hearing Nirvana on the oldies station is one of those moments that really makes you feel your age, but it still hits me. There is something about that music and that era that lives in me. And Deftones, they just touch my heart. I had not been to a concert since I was about eighteen, and seeing Deftones last year was such an emotional experience for me that it made me cry. Their music feels beautiful to me in a way that goes beyond just liking songs. Then when it comes to hip-hop, Fifty Cent is always going to be my guy. A lot of that comes back to storytelling for me. I love his story, coming from the bottom, having people not want him to make it, surviving things that should have stopped him, and still deciding that because people tried to stop him, now he had to make it happen even bigger. That kind of determination, transformation, humor, reinvention, and refusal to let other people decide your ceiling is deeply inspiring to me. I also appreciate that he does not take himself too seriously, that he can be funny, write, direct, act, and evolve into so many different things. That means a lot to me.

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Heroes and Inspirations:

My dad is absolutely one of my biggest inspirations. He taught me how to play chess when I was about seven, and I still play chess every day of my life. I can have multiple games going at once and still track all of them, and that kind of planning, strategy, and mental layering feels like part of how my brain naturally works now. But beyond that, my dad was a paratrooper ranger, and he always told me that if I was going to do something, I should do the hardest thing, go for the toughest challenge, and aim to be the best of the best. If you are going to do it, set the bar high, set records, make it count. That shaped me a lot. He was incredibly serious when I was growing up, very stoic, and it is funny now because he is much more jokey, and I think in some ways that also influenced why I became so joking myself. Luke Skywalker is another huge inspiration for me, especially Expanded Universe Luke. One of the things that always stuck with me is the idea that every place Luke went, it changed, and that when he left somewhere, it was better than when he found it. That matters to me deeply. I have measured myself against that. I have asked myself whether I was really leaving things better than I found them. That question changed the direction of my life. And then, like I said, someone like Fifty Cent is also an inspiration because he represents survival, reinvention, belief in self, and refusing to let circumstances define what you can become.

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What do you do outside of IJF?

Outside of IJF, I dedicate my time to healing people. That is really the heart of what I do. On paper, the simple title would be personal trainer, but that has honestly never felt like enough to describe the work. Even I have wrestled with how to name it, because clients and patients have placed much heavier titles on me than that, and I resisted accepting those for a long time. There is a balance there, because I never want to go into ego, but I also have had to learn not to deny the real impact of what I do and the ways the Force works through me. The way it has been described is that I am a physical training body worker who is also a spiritual worker and an emotional healer, and that feels closer to the truth. I help people heal physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. I have worked with people who were told they would never walk right again, never run again, never feel parts of their body again, and then I have watched them stand, walk, run, deadlift, race, and move in ways they were told were impossible. I have worked with people whose conditions specialists could not resolve, and I have helped them find function, strength, balance, and relief. To me, a lot of that feels like just another day, but to them it can be life-changing. I do not do it for the money. I do it because helping people, healing people, and seeing what becomes possible in them is what my life has come to be about.

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Certifications:

National Academy of Sports Medicine Certified Personal Trainer. Certified Group Personal Training Specialist. Certified Integrated Speed, Agility, and Quickness Trainer. First Aid, CPR, and AED certified by the American Heart Association. Certified Core Strength Specialist. Certified Senior Fitness Specialist. Certified Integrated Balance Specialist. Cardiorespiratory training certified through NASM. Integrated reactive training certified through NASM. Neuromuscular stretching certified through NASM. Goniometric assessment certified through NASM. Mental toughness certified through NASM. Certified Neurogenesis Trainer through NASM. Certified Public Speaker. Certified Health Coach and Motivational Speaker. Certified in Suicide Prevention through DOJ and BOP. Certified Nutrition Coach through NASM. Certified Corrective Exercise Specialist through NASM. I am also a retired professional wrestler.

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How does your life outside the Order influence your Jedi path?

My life outside the Order influences my Jedi path in a massive way because everything I do outside of IJF keeps reinforcing what I already know about the Force, the body, healing, and human possibility. I spend my days helping people carry weight, physically and otherwise. I watch people come in feeling broken, limited, afraid, disconnected, and often convinced that their body or their life can only ever be reduced to what they have been told is wrong with them. Then I get to witness what happens when someone is given the right support, the right conditions, the right belief, and the chance to reconnect. That is Jedi work to me. It is not separate. It is the same thing expressed in another form. The way I understand the body, pain, healing, trauma, possibility, and effort all feeds directly back into how I understand the Force and how I guide others. Even my physical practice is spiritual to me. What you see externally is just the manifestation of what has already happened mentally and spiritually. So my life outside the Order does not just influence my Jedi path. It is one of the ways my Jedi path lives.

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Community & Vision

How would you describe being part of the IJF community?

Being part of the IJF community has changed so much over time that it is almost hard to describe it without seeing the contrast. When I was first knighted in IJF, I did not feel like there was much of a community there at all, though I did not fully understand that at the time because I was still coming up in it and did not have the perspective yet. Looking back, it was falling apart. It was crumbling. Then for it to basically die and now be revived into what it is becoming, and for me to hold the position and responsibility I hold now in that process, it has become one of the deepest commitments of my life. I wake up and check on it like it is my baby. I cannot remember not waking up and checking on the temple, making sure nothing is on fire, thinking about what needs to happen next. I go to sleep thinking about it. I dream about moving pieces around, planning, shaping, and building. Even the ways I push myself physically, mentally, and spiritually right now have all been to pour more of myself into what we are trying to make. I have done a lot of things in my life, and my life has felt like a movie at times, like I have lived multiple lifetimes already, but outside of my kids, this truly feels like the best thing I have ever done. It fills me with pride. It feels meaningful. It feels alive. It feels like proof that when you put your heart fully into something, something real can grow.

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What values are most important for IJF to protect over time?

The values that matter most to me for IJF to protect are integrity, love, transparency, safety, openness, trust, and the standard of what we are building now. Before this current chapter began, I was actually about to leave the community entirely, and one of the things that stopped me was asking myself whether I had truly left it better than I found it. That question, especially through the lens of Luke Skywalker and the idea that every place he went changed, shook me. I had to ask myself whether there was really a place where people could explore safely, where they could ask questions and get straight answers, where they could be open without being judged, where they could travel the path without harm, or where they could just be, even if they only wanted to hang out and be around people who understood. At that time, I did not feel like that existed. So if there is anything that must be protected now, it is that core. The standard. The integrity. The love that all of us are putting into this. The fact that people can be open here. The fact that they can trust. The fact that there is space for honesty, growth, support, and straight answers. All of that needs to be protected. Because if it is, then this can become so much for so many people, and it already has. If that core is cultivated and built upon, I truly believe this world will change.

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How do you personally contribute to the health and culture of this community?

I contribute by building, shaping, showing up, and refusing to let the thing stay smaller than it could be. I contribute through vision, labor, consistency, and love. I am someone who wakes up thinking about what needs to happen next, what doors need to be opened, what structures need to be built, what areas need attention, and how to make this place stronger, safer, and more alive. I push hard, and I know not everyone is meant to push at the same level I do, because that is the choice I made for myself right now. But I bring that level of effort into the community because I believe someone has to hold the torch, someone has to go first, someone has to build the thing people can then come into and expand. I think I also contribute by giving people space to be real, by helping create a culture where there is honesty, humor, challenge, and heart all at once. I want this community to feel like a place people can grow, belong, trust, and build with. So I contribute by pouring myself into that every day.

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What does belonging mean to you within IJF?

Belonging within IJF means having support, love, appreciation, space, friendship, and family. I know belonging can mean different things to different people, but I hope that when someone belongs here, they feel that they are held. That they have people around them who care. That they have somewhere they can exhale, somewhere they can ask questions, somewhere they can grow, and somewhere they are not alone. I truly do think of my Jedi people as my family. Sometimes I feel like I spend more time with my Jedi family than my actual family. And that does not feel strange to me, because going back to how I define the Force, what is the difference really? It is all the Force. It is all connected. So belonging means that you are part of that connection here. It means you have people, you have love, and you have a place.

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Final Reflection

When someone reads your bio, what do you hope they understand about your heart?

I hope they understand that I really do speak from my heart, even when I am joking, even when I am being goofy, even when I am trying not to get emotional. I hope they get something real from me. I do not really care whether what they get is a laugh, a tear, a smile, some inspiration, or just one thing that sticks with them, as long as they get something. If you laugh, then you got something. If you cried like I did, then you got something. If you smiled, then you got something. That matters to me. I want people to understand that I am always giving something. I have plenty to give. So if someone reads this bio or sees me and walks away having felt something true, something human, something hopeful, something that made them think or feel more deeply, then that is enough for me. That means they saw my heart.​​​​​​