"Common sense is a collection of prejudices one acquires by the age of eighteen." -- Albert Einstein

This is the quote that Jared gave me when I told him I wanted to interview him for my project. He was excited to give me his story, and I feel like I must begin by telling you that Jared is ambitious because that's the most striking thing about him.

His life didn't start out that way though. When he was born, he had a brain hemorrhage that made doctors insist he wouldn't live past birth. At the age of three, he began to have seizures that would last until he was 16. This made school hard and decided not to go to college. Jared was smart though, he wanted to learn languages but because of his seizures and school performance the answer he always got was no. He was to be trained in a vocational school so that he could learn a trade and have an independent life. The thing was, Jared was just as smart as everyone else, he even learned in the same way; teachers just didn't want to give him the time of day.

A few years ago, Jared decided Virgina wasn't for him and moved out west. He spent a good deal of time in Bend, Oregon working here and there, but freezing every night, doing anything he could to survive the snowy winter.

He met a man who said whenever he needed a ride to Portland, he could get him there. Jared returned a few days later with a promise of a job and asked for the ride. The man was surprised at Jared's commitment to getting where he wanted to go and within the week, he was in Portland. Unfortunately, the job didn't work out and Jared ended up on the street again.

He's learned German, and a little bit of Russian from friends he's met around Portland, well on his way to what he wants to do with his life, which is become fluent. He's always excited to share with me all the lists of words he has and he was super stoked when I told him I took three years of German in high school. We joke with each other in German while we play scrabble, I've taught him the little bit of grammar that I remember, and I'm doing my best to find in myself all the knowledge I once had about the language.

Jared and I are pretty similar actually: super ambitious, useless in the morning without coffee, and passionate about anything and everything that sparks our interest.

When I first asked him if he wanted me to interview him for these articles, he was super stoked about it. I laughed and told him I'd never interviewed anyone before and I didn't really know where to start. That's when he told me about growing up in Virginia and the friends that have tried to get back in contact with him that he doesn't really have time for.

When I brought up the question of dignity, of being ignored on the streets, of never making eye contact with anyone, he shrugged and said, "Yeah it happens, I don't ever ask for anything but it's just kind of the way it is. I'm a white guy." He says he's a minimalist, that he doesn't need anything more than a cup of coffee in the morning and little bit of food during the day. On the immersion one of the other girls who was with us was talking with some men at one of the places we were serving and he said, "You'll never go hungry in Portland." It became one of our major talking points for the immersion -- the fact is that Portland is a great place to be homeless. You can have three square meals a day without even leaving the city, you might not even have to take the bus to get to all the places that serve throughout the day. Jared takes advantage of some of these opportunities, to get his coffee in the morning and lunch and dinner during the day.

He's not bitter about his situation, he's optimistic actually. He always talks about how someday he'll be famous (he never says rich and famous, he just wants to be known) and all the people that never believed in him back in Virginia will be telling people how they know him. He's someone that's never going to give up what he wants.

Next week, the conclusion of the Urban Immersion, my thoughts and feelings about the whole experience and what you can do if you want to help.