Looking at most people in the building, you’d think they were all born and raised in DC. But, not Ravyn Wallace. Ravyn has lived in many places, meeting a trail of people along the way. 

Born in Philadelphia, Penn on August 30, 2005, Ravyn Madison Wallace spent a short time in the city, not remembering much of that part of her life. Her mom’s side of the family stems from Philly and Camdon, NJ, while her father is DC bred. 

A lot of Ravyn’s life has been on the move. After being born in Philly and raised there until she was two, she moved to New Jersey for 6 years. After time spent there, her family decided to try out North Carolina for a change, but that was short lived. She stayed there from the beginning of 2015 until August 2015. That’s when she made her big move to DC and has lived there ever since. Her first memory in the city was a few days before her 10th birthday, she remembers going around the city with her family, then having a pool party with all of her cousins. That sparked her love for the city.

Ravyn has met many people through the school’s she’s attended. First, there was Hawkins Street for elementary, in New Jersey. She then attended Washington Elementary in NC for a bit of fourth grade and fifth. When she finally moved to DC, she attended Watkins Elementary for a week and Capitol Hill Montessori for the duration of elementary and her start of middle school. That’s when Ravyn transferred to Jefferson to complete middle school and also start her journey at Benjamin Banneker HS.

As a child, “school was fun. I was best at math. I hated history. Always hated history, it’s the worst. But I did like science,” she exclaimed.

           Ravyn recalls her best friend that she made throughout the years as a boy named Desean. They met at Capitol Hill Montessori and continued their friendship for two years. Ravyn expressed that “We could always be ourselves around each other and I could always tell him everything, free of judgment.” It wasn’t until Ravyn moved school that their communication drifted. 

              As Ravyn looked back, she remembered her favorite item from her childhood being an attachment to the backroom of her bedroom in NJ. She remembers playing hide and seek in that part of the room and hiding things from her parents there, who were her childhood heroes.

           Currently, Ravyn is experiencing senior life in full effect. She’s currently applying to colleges, already having done nine. She hasn’t received any acceptances yet, but she’s waiting since she just started the application process. She chose her colleges based on the DC-Cap scholarship and the rest were randomly picked. 

   Ravyn now sees the world differently than when she was a child. She is realizing what adults used to tell her about working for everything you want.

     Ravyn has two siblings, two from her mom and dad and one from her dad’s side. She describes the personality of her little sister, Erynn, as being really extroverted and not afraid to talk to people. “Sometimes it’s embarrassing when she’s loud in public”, she said. 

Her older sister, Charley, is the opposite. Ravyn describes her saying “she’s overprotective and sometimes thinks the world revolves around her” which she claims to be frustrating. She recalls a special memory with her saying, “She wasn’t the best child. Last year she got put in one of the places where they take your phone and shoelaces. I visited and realized I needed to appreciate my sister more which was also around the time my mom passed in 2020. I had to talk to her because I could lose her at any time.” 

This is the childhood of Ravyn Madison Wallace. To be continued…