Biography
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About The Candidate:
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I was born 1979 in Sheridan Michigan and was raised in the rural setting of Palo, Michigan. Coming into adulthood, I quickly learned the value of honest hard work and providing for myself. Fiercely independent, I graduated from Ionia Public Schools in 1999, with The Scholarship Award and attended Baker College of Owosso.
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Education:
Education was interrupted at Baker, when my mother fell into economic distress. Upon returning home, I took a leave from educational pursuits, to attend to my family's crisis. This lead to experiencing first hand the difficulties that many experience across the country; homelessness. The winter of 2000/2001, I spent homeless, with my mother, sister, and brother, searching for economic relief and shelter which was found in the spring of 2001 when my family was able to relocate to Stanton, Michigan.
After stabilizing my family through everyday hard work, in 2005, I decided to pursue education once again. While signing up for classes at Montcalm Community College (MCC) in Sidney Michigan, I met and engaged to marry Melissa, who had also decided to attend MCC. We later married in 2006 and shortly after birthed our first child.
During my time at MCC, I earned an Associates Degree in Accounting; later transferring to Grand Valley State University. While at GVSU, I attended several business conferences, workshops, and sought internships. Also at this time, I fathered my second & third children with Melissa. In my final year of the bachelors program, I was forced to withdraw; due to rising tuition, capped financial aid, and a loss of student family housing.
Returning To Blue Collar Roots:
It was then, I decided to rededicate to betterment and sought training in the trades, by using a Michigan Works program—No Worker Left Behind, attending West Michigan CDL for logistics training. Upon completing my education/training at West Michigan CDL, I hired into a Wisconsin trucking company—Roehl Transport. Later I sought a local employer and started working for Larsen Trucking, in Greenville Michigan, thrived and felt a renewed sense of self and independence.
Why Am I Running:
Over the course of my lifetime: it has become blatantly obvious that average Americans have lost the ability to live the dream, or even provide a basic life for their families. As, I began raising my family, I endured many common struggles and challenges of meeting basic needs, as cost of living quickly outpaced family capacity to earn. In addition, my daughter has shown me, through needed care, how broken our mental health system and education system is in our state. Being that my daughter needs a fierce advocate in our state legislature, to advance comprehensive reforms and end needless bureaucracy, I've decided to run and seek to be that advocate.
Views:
Progressive Democtratic
Constitutionalist
Methodist
Education was interrupted at Baker, when my mother fell into economic distress. Upon returning home, I took a leave from educational pursuits, to attend to my family's crisis. This lead to experiencing first hand the difficulties that many experience across the country; homelessness. The winter of 2000/2001, I spent homeless, with my mother, sister, and brother, searching for economic relief and shelter which was found in the spring of 2001 when my family was able to relocate to Stanton, Michigan.
After stabilizing my family through everyday hard work, in 2005, I decided to pursue education once again. While signing up for classes at Montcalm Community College (MCC) in Sidney Michigan, I met and engaged to marry Melissa, who had also decided to attend MCC. We later married in 2006 and shortly after birthed our first child.
During my time at MCC, I earned an Associates Degree in Accounting; later transferring to Grand Valley State University. While at GVSU, I attended several business conferences, workshops, and sought internships. Also at this time, I fathered my second & third children with Melissa. In my final year of the bachelors program, I was forced to withdraw; due to rising tuition, capped financial aid, and a loss of student family housing.
Returning To Blue Collar Roots:
It was then, I decided to rededicate to betterment and sought training in the trades, by using a Michigan Works program—No Worker Left Behind, attending West Michigan CDL for logistics training. Upon completing my education/training at West Michigan CDL, I hired into a Wisconsin trucking company—Roehl Transport. Later I sought a local employer and started working for Larsen Trucking, in Greenville Michigan, thrived and felt a renewed sense of self and independence.
Why Am I Running:
Over the course of my lifetime: it has become blatantly obvious that average Americans have lost the ability to live the dream, or even provide a basic life for their families. As, I began raising my family, I endured many common struggles and challenges of meeting basic needs, as cost of living quickly outpaced family capacity to earn. In addition, my daughter has shown me, through needed care, how broken our mental health system and education system is in our state. Being that my daughter needs a fierce advocate in our state legislature, to advance comprehensive reforms and end needless bureaucracy, I've decided to run and seek to be that advocate.
Views:
Progressive Democtratic
Constitutionalist
Methodist
Never judge a man by a test not yet taken
Paid For With Regulated Funds By:
Friends for Mark Bignell
P.O. Box 711
Greenville, MI 48838
Friends for Mark Bignell
P.O. Box 711
Greenville, MI 48838