A (Brief) Story of My Life

Hi, my name is Cassandra Elise Evans. I'm 24, born and raised in Sacramento, California. I come from a slightly crazy, but loving family. My parents met in college, sometime during the 70's. They were both idealistic hippies that listened to the Grateful Dead and smoked a lot of weed. After a couple months of dating, they moved in together and decided not to get married because they didn't think their love could be "defined by an antiquated socio-religious ritual." Anyway, they moved in together and started breeding like bunnies, hence my 6 siblings. Mom and Dad never really grew out of their hippy phase, so we all grew up hearing about the importance of becoming one with nature (despite the fact that we lived in the suburbs) and being subjected to Mom's crystal healing techniques. Our house was pretty crazy, because neither of my parents were disciplinarians, which is kind of necessary when you have 7 kids. As a result, everything was disorganized and loud and pretty much a free-for-all. I'm the 4th child, so I was blessed with 3 younger siblings to annoy me and 3 older siblings to boss me around. I always had to share my bedroom and never knew the meaning of privacy. Usually, I would try to spend the night at a friend's house at least twice a week to get a break. I mean, I loved all of them, but I was dying for some peace and quiet. So, after graduating from high school, I told my family I loved them and that I was going on a cross country road trip. I’d begun to feel restless over the last few years and hoped traveling would give me some perspective and direction in life. I had been saving money since freshman year to fund the trip, so I estimated I could at least make it a good ways into the Midwest. My parents have always encouraged "self-discovery" and thought it was a fantastic idea. When I set out I didn't exactly have a plan, and I ended up traveling throughout the U.S. for about 2 years. I'm not going to go into major detail about my various adventures at this moment, but there was a lot of car trouble, odd jobs, and wonderful/questionable people involved (some of my stops are mentioned in my Google map). Eventually, after months of travel, I decided to settle in Morgantown, WV. My car had died on I-79 and fixing it would’ve cost more than it was worth. I caught a ride into town with the tow truck driver and got a hotel room. I was tired, and decided Morgantown was as good a place as any to relax for a while. I managed to get a waitressing job at Boston Beanery and then an apartment. After a few months I began thinking a little education might give me some further direction in life, so I applied to WVU. Now, 4 years later, I'm a Senior Biology major with a cat and an annoying roommate. I thought finishing my degree would mark the beginning of a traditional life where I got a real job, got married, and became a respectable member of society. However, one chance encounter in the woods near Cheat Lake changed the course of my life forever.