Sketches for Mr. Andy's class

Homeless to Tennessee Tech.

I will never forget this as long as I live! I could not figure out why some people have everything they want, and others get nothing. In my own life I wondered why things happened to me the way it did. Til this day I will never forget the life changing event that happened to me. It all started in July of 1996. I was in the first grade, I was a little girl, I was playing on the play ground when my mom come to pick me up. I remeber all of are stuff was in the backseat of the car and in the trunk. I couldn't understand why, what was going on. I mean I was only 6, what was I suppose to do. I remeber we made a stop at a motel for the night, and headed to Tennessee, when we did that we were in Nashville, where I will never forget what happened. I just remeber going to school, and claiming my grannys house as my place of residence. But it wasn't, my place of residence, my place of residence was my car. Every day it was the same, I would put my seat back and go to sleep. I would get up at 4 a.m., because I had to be at school at 8. When that happened, I would wash up in the resturant were, my mother and I, ate breakfast. I would take my close from the day before off, and put them aside. Of course, I would go in the stall, and take a wash rag that I wet at the sink, and would wash up with that. Then I would wash my hair in the sink, well itless wet it, and put shampoo on it, then I would go back in the stall and lather it up. Then I would go back to the sink and wash the suds off my hair. All this lasted for a couple of months, until the teacher noticed a bruise on my arms and legs, so she called the cops. They showed up at my granny's house, and she said that she did not know that I was back in town. So for some reason, the Department of children service got involved, so I wen't into a foster home, were I stayed for like a month. Then my grandmother come to get me, because she had to take a class on raising a child. All was going well, then after a year of being with my grandmother my own birth mother come back in my life, and tried disturbing what good of a life I had left. So, on December 17, 1990, I was placed in a foster home, were I stayed till May of 2000, then I moved to Miami, Florida. I stayed there for a little bit over a year then I came back to Tennessee in 2001, after getting adopted, by one of my uncle's and aunt's. Mom manage to come back in my life once again and tear every ounce of happiness I had. Why couldn't she just have let me alone? Why couldn't she just allow me to have a normal life. Instead, I had to grow up wondering why the hell everything happened to me. So I will just say, for now, I went back to the foster home that I was in. Graduated high school at Livingston Academy, I graduated with taking all honors classess and with a 3.89, I am so proud of that. Now I am 18 and a student at Tennessee Tech, majoring in education. I only hope that one day I will merely touch a childs life.

How I overcame the barriers that were placed on me.

Like I said previously that I grew up in a home, were it kinda wasn't the best scenerio in the world. Finally when I had the chance to be normal, something happened. It wasn't that I wasn't smart, it was just I felt like no one cared about me. I remeber when I was in the 8th grade and I was fixing to go into high school, the teacher called my grandma up and said well she needs to be in special ed classes because she is not smart enough to go to class with the kids that are planning on going to college. That was such a bummer to me, I told grandma that I didnt want to do special ed, that instead I wanted to take all honors classess and I want to go to college. I was wanting to try, I wanted to make something of myself. So when I started highschool, I started with a brand new slate, I studied so hard and I wanted to make something of my self. Not for the fun of it, but just to show people that for once I am somebody. Little did I know that all that hardwork would pay off. Not only did I graduate high school, and get a diploma. I graduated with a 3.89, and in two different honor societies. This passed summer I went back to that counselor, and said you know how you said I would never make it to college. Well I took all honors classes, and graduated in the top of my class. And you will never guess I am now attended Tennessee Tech, where I am doing well, and got a full ride to college.

How I survived while living in a foster home

This is hard for me to talk about, but I need to get it off my chest. I am wondering now how I am actually were I am at today. Ok who would of honestly thougt that me some foster kid that should be in jail because that is the type of value that people place on kids like me. That of course is not the case, and it pisses me off, when people ask me so why were you in foster care? Did you steal a car? Or rob a bank? Or was you unruly. My answer wants to be, no dumbass, I am in foster car, because of what my mother did she neglected to take care of my needs so there fore, I had to grow up away from her. Which in my case was the best thing for me. It allowed me the chance to grow up and be normal, and go to college, and get away from her, and her bad decisions. Well I had to self teach my self at an early age. In order, "To do good things in this world, you must first know who you are and give that meaning to your life." Infact, the reason why things are going good for me now is because, I am away from all that bad stuff. My foster mother was great to me, she loved me and cared for me. I was in her home for about 8 or 9 years. Even that, I knew that one of these days I was going to be on my own, so I got on the right path in life. That is why I am here to day, and I know that I am not a screw up. There is a reason behind everything, and you know what I have become a strong christian as a result of all this.

Homework for Proffesor Andy's English 1010 class

Well, before I get started blogging about the two short stories that Mr. Andy asked the class to read and write a response to. I would like to say that I thought both memoirs were great. The two memoirs were "Us and Them" and "Mick Jagger Wants Me."

I will start with "Us and Them," because I can relate to that topic better than "Mick Jagger Wants Me." Ok, first of all, in the story "Us and Them," the story begins with Sedaris taking us back to the third grade, and what it was like moving to North Carolina. I believe his mother may have been scared to tell him to not make friends due to time restraints, and the posibility of moving again. He briefly describes his previous place of residence, New York. The story then jumps to, what I assume is, the main focus of the story: the Tomkeys. It starts out innocently enough. The Tomkeys don't believe in television, which is to say they don't own one. Now, I myself, have to say I dont watch a bunch of television, because I simply do not have time. Plus, I believe most of what television shows to the public eye, conflicts with whatever intelligence people have left. So, young Sedaris, thought it was ok to spy on the Tomkeys. First, he notices that they actually sit down and talk during dinner and later the children don't react like the rest, of the other kids do, when the teacher acts out a character in a popular show. The logic behind that, is because how would they know, anything about that show, because they dont have a T.V. So now it is Hallowen, and like typical children do on halloween, they go trick or treating. So, while all the children in the area are trick or treating, the Tomkeys, children aren't. So, they show up Nov. 1st, the day after Halloween trick or treating. There Halloween costumes were odd, I guess the girl as a ballerina and the boy as a rodent. What is up with that? So, why couldn't the Tomkeys just take there children, the night of Halloween which would have been better off. Instead, they decide to show up, at the Sedaris house hold and take the candy that the Sedaris children, went out and earned themselvs. With much heartbreak on the boy's part, his mother insisted that the children give their hard earned candy to the Tomkeys. So all the children were to go and gather there candy up and bring it back. With it taking sometime for them to come back to there mother, the mother had to find a topic of interest for them, so she started talking about boats. But, Sedaris new, that at any minute his mother could burst in his dore so he started devoiring his candy so that the Tomkey children would not recieve the kind that he wanted. So, while he's devoring his candy, his mother walks in and takes his candy away from him. Candy that he spent all night earning, why should children that didnt go deserve his candy. So she gives them the candy, and apologizes for her absence. So all the children were in trouble, for not bringing there candy or not being quickly about it.

The other story which is called "Mick Jagger Wants Me." “Mick Jagger Wants Me” is a story about two teenage girls and their adventures through the time of their life when they were teenagers. Susan and Michelle spend long hours waiting outside a studio called Electric Lady trying to meet the famous Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. This story was very interesting, because it gave me an idea of what it would be like to grow up in the 60's and maybe early 70's. The hippy days my mother, called it, where basically, where sex, drugs, and rock and roll, were the activities that most teenagers were involved in. This story became even more funny to read, especially how Susan’s favorite activity was making out and drinking alcohol.

My name is Samantha, and I am a student at Tennessee Tech, what more can I say. Except, that I have been blessed, I went from thinking that I was a nobody all through high school. Then ended up while in college, having many friends. I feel that god has blessed me tremendously. Unlike most young adults my age, I grew up in foster care. I didn't really have what I would call a family, now I am happy because I know longer have to think about everybody else, I can focus my attention on me, and what Samantha wants