Everything You Need to Know About Me…and maybe more

Who is Krystal-Ann?

Hi, I’m Krystal-Ann. I normally go by Krystal. My birthday recently past on January 6^th, and I’m 22. I’m in my fourth year at Brescia and I am doing an Honors double major in Accounting and Psychology. Yes, it’s a strange combination. I get that all the time. To explain, I started as a food and nutrition student, but that program wasn’t what I thought it would be and I was miserable. However, the first-year business class we had to take was the one I looked forward to every week. So, I switched to my back up plan, accounting. I needed a second major to do the accounting major and I was missing the chance to study biology. Psychology as my second major gave me the opportunity to have the best of both worlds. I get to study biology and accounting. Last year, I used my school of interest to participate in Brescia’s Student Council. I held the School of Leadership and Social Change Representative.

Before Brescia and moving to London for school, I lived about an hour and a half north of London in Wellington County (near Listowel, Ontario). I lived there for most of my life and went to school with the same people since kindergarten. Due to this, it’s hard to introduce myself to new people. I did manage to make new friends while here at Brescia, but I think only a few of them will last a lifetime. My friends Kendall, and Julia are amazing people that I can not wait to share future memories with! My best friend, Jordan, from home, came to Brescia in 2016 with me. We were roommates in residence for two years. She has continued to stay in residence and work for Brescia as a Residence Assistance (RA). During, elementary and secondary school I used to be very active in sports and other extracurriculars.

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To start, I started playing t-ball and continued to play baseball until I got to high school. I started figure skating in the winter around the age of 7 and stopped only when I was leaving to come to Brescia. I started participating in the local swim team in middle school and stopped when I got a part-time job in high school. Outside of sports, I completed multiple 4-H Life Skills clubs, the Sparks Program and did a year of Guides. When I got old enough, I followed my older brother’s lead and joined Army Cadets. I participated in cadet training for two years. I never really enjoyed it as much as my brother did, but it helped bring us closer. I also played rubgy for a year in high school, like my brother did.

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Now, to explain why my brother and I needed to be brought closer entails a complicated story that continues to become more complicated as time goes on. However, I think its finally starting to calm down! I come from a growing blended family, in total, I believe there will be eight children. I am the youngest of two, me and my older brother, James. We have to older half brothers from our father’s previous marriage, Ryan and Greg. There are 7, 12 and 13 years between me and my brothers, respectively. We were never very close growing up due to the age differences and being in different stages of our lives. For as long as I could remember this was my family: my three brothers, my parents, and me. In 2012, my parents separated. Along came, my mother’s new significant other and the children of theirs from a previous relationship. I got two more brothers, just younger this time: Zack, who is eighteen and Michael, who is fifteen. Recently, my father has started dating again and his significant other also has two children from a previous relationship. Two more boys. If you lost track, I have or will have seven brothers. I also recently gained a sister as you can see in the photos below. My brother Ryan got married in 2018. The youngest being 15 and the oldest being 34. As I have gotten older the age gap has diminished as we are closer to the same stages in our lives. My family also includes my cat, Dusty, and my dog, Layla.

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Next, I want to tell you all about one of the most important people in my life right now: my boyfriend, Curtis. Curtis came into my life a long time ago as a really good friend. We had grown apart and lost touch. He befriended my brother, James, and we eventually crossed paths again. In 2018, we started talking again and started spending time together. He has recently become my calm in the storm when I stress over the change coming with graduating and feel like I am failing. He helps remind me that everything will be okay and will work out.

On top of being part of my safe place, my boyfriend introduced me to Rumble Nation (RN). RN is a Subaru enthusiast group, but also includes car enthusiasts in general. It’s a non-profit group all funds raised through merchandise sales and fees go back into the group or are donated. Most of the time we just have small car meets with other members of the group in parking lots, drink coffee and socialize. We do other bigger group events sometimes like camping, skiing and snowboarding, and we have the annual poker run. The poker run is a series of predetermined stops and at each stop, you get a card. Whoever has the best poker hand at the end, wins. 

As for my future, I plan on graduating in October 2020 and likely pursuing my CPA designation. I am also considering taking time away from school for a little while and then going to college as I am unsure I want to continue with accounting professionally. As I learn more about jobs and careers I am leaning toward working with people rather than numbers, or maybe both. I am considering pursuing a career at a car dealership in the financing or accounting department. However, I’m terrified of the unknown and the changes to come with finishing my undergrad. I feel like everyone else has a plan and I am so unprepared for the future. I have no idea how I’m going to get to where I want to be. I can only hope that things will happen the way they are supposed to and everything will be okay.