One teen’s journey to find his voice and overcome adversity
Seventeen-year-old Dakota Linster has worked hard to find his voice – and not just as the frontman for his band, Eudaimonia.
The Riverside resident has a passion for music. He also plays the drums, plans to learn the keyboard and one day hopes to learn bass guitar and how to sing “properly.”
“Usually, I listen to music or watch TV or play video games, normal teen stuff but music is my pride and joy, you know, it’s what really makes me happy.”
A junior at Riverside High School, Linster is also turning an eye towards the future, which, for him, includes college and a degree in mechanical engineering, just in case music doesn’t work out as a successful career, he said. With that degree, he hopes to work in the motor vehicle industry, perhaps working on or designing cars.
Linster’s days are filled with typical teen activities: school, homework, band practice, working with his uncle on the weekends and hanging out with friends. As a sophomore, he joined the NJROTC and has since advanced to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. In April, he received the National Sojourners award “in recognition of the highest attributes of Americanism and support of the United States as a [Riverside High School Navy JROTC].”
“The award is pretty exciting because it’s the first medal I’ve gotten, and it’s the first award I’ve gotten,” Linster said. “I’m just proud. Proud of myself, really.”
Linster is excelling and excited to see what the future has in store for him beyond high school, but he’s had to overcome significant family upheaval to get to where he is today.
Four years ago, Linster’s aunt, Nikki Linster, took him in when her younger sister could no longer care for him. While she didn’t have children of her own, Nikki Linster referred to the learning curve of raising her teenage nephew as an experience she’s “enjoyed thoroughly” and said she is proud of everything they’ve both accomplished.
“I love the kid, like him being here, I like being a parent,” she said. “I didn’t know I would like that so much, but I do. I’m old, but it made me grow up a lot.”
Since coming to live with her, Dakota Linster said he’s proudest of how active and involved he’s become in his own life and said mealtimes are particularly special to him. At the dinner table with his aunt, he feels truly at home.
“I love that family experience, you know?” he said.
Other family members, too, have rallied around Linster, providing life lessons in everyday tasks. He earns spending money from his uncle by completing yard work or helping at the security firm his uncle runs, but for Linster, that work is “more than just a job.”
“He’s teaching me a lot of life skills that a father figure would teach their son,” he said.
