Jade Reeves has learned a thing or two about life. At 20 years old, she has already learned about the severe downsides of alcoholism, how to accept diversity in her life and how to shoot a camera.

A Kansas City, Kan., sophomore majoring in English, Reeves is the oldest of six girls, ages ranging all the way from two to 20.

Having five sisters is complicated in itself, but growing up with five sisters from different backgrounds and different parents makes it even harder.

Reeves is the only child from her original parents; two of her sisters are stepsisters and the other three are half sisters.

Although they didn’t live together, Reeves credits her sisters for helping her better understand people from other cultures. Four of her sisters are half-African American and half-Caucasian, and one is half-Hispanic and half-Caucasian. She said growing up she never knew the difference, that they were her sisters and always would be.

Jade Reeves has been photographing "people, things, anything I see" since she was 16. Photography is one of her main interests, but Reeves, a Kansas Ciy, Kan., sophomore, also works at Pulse, the coffee shop in The Underground. Here, she's shown with some of her black-and-white work, dating back to when she first started taking photos in high school.

“When I meet someone with a different culture, it’s easier to meet them without having stereotypical differences,” she said.

Reeves was raised mostly by her mother, except for the three years when she lived with her grandmother.

When Reeves was eight years old, her mother checked herself in for alcohol abuse rehabilitation, and sent Reeves to her grandmother’s.

A few years later when Reeves was a freshman in college, her father, who she didn’t meet until she was about six years old, also checked himself into rehabilitation for alcohol abuse.

Because both of her parents are recovering alcoholics, Reeves doesn’t see the need for alcohol in her life. She goes out and has fun without it, but said if she does drink “it’s very limited and very controlled.”

Reeves used her high school, J C Harmon High School, Kansas City, KS, to get away from the chaos in her life. She threw herself into journalism, starting as a photographer and worked her way all the way up to being editor-in-chief for two years.

However, photography is her favorite hobby and thus is the one on which she concentrates the most today.

Last year, Reeves submitted one of her photos to the Olive Gallery, 15 E. 8th St., for an exhibition to which anyone could submit. The photo was of her three-year-old sister. Reeves doesn’t know how long it hung in the gallery, but it could still be there because she hasn’t picked it up yet.

Reeves has shot pictures for two weddings; her aunts and her boyfriend’s best friend.

She enjoys photography, but like many of her fellow schoolmates, Reeves hasn’t made up her mind about what she wants to do after college.

“Some days I want to own a coffee shop, some days I want to do photography,” she said. “And other days I want to run a magazine.” Reeves currently works at the coffee shop in the Underground in the basement of Wescoe Hall.

Reeves started college as a graphic design major, but decided to switch to English because she thought it would take less time to finish school.

Since college began, Reeves looks at life through the eyes of what seems to be an extremely happy person.

“I’m in college now and kind of away from it all,” she said. “It’s in perspective.”