Sergio Calderon, Fraught

A year ago this December, Sergio Calderon bravely took the stage at Odyssey's "Fraught" show to talk about why he was more afraid of going to school than going to Afghanistan. From his Odyssey biography: Sergio Calderon is a Tucson native who is currently attending the University of Arizona. In May, he will be graduating with a bachelor's degree in Journalism. While it all looks like roses and butterflies, Calderon grew up the youngest of five in a tough Amphitheater neighborhood. Upon graduating high school, he had no options other than to join the Marine Corps in 2006. As a reservist in Tucson he was first deployed to Djibouti, Africa in 2008. At the age of 21 he felt like he needed to gain a degree and change the world once more and by 2010 Calderon had enrolled at Pima Community College. After two semesters, he dropped out of college with nowhere to turn leading him to his second deployment to Afghanistan in 2012. Seven near death experiences in combat and one epiphany later he decided to return to college eventually being accepted to the University of Arizona in 2014. While at the university he has become the President of Omega Delta Phi Fraternity where he commits over 80 hours of community service a semester to helping young Hispanic children strive for higher education. He hopes by his hard work more children will go on to get their degrees and change the world as well. This episode was performed and recorded in front of a live audience at The Screening Room on December 1st, 2016, and curated by Molly McCloy. For more information about Odyssey Storytelling, please visit www.odysseystorytelling.com