Editing. My Life!-Draft 3-Original-Hadassah McGill

7/30/2019 Editing. My Life!-Draft 3-Original-Hadassah McGill

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Hadassah McGillMrs. Thomas

English 1103-010

20 Feb. 2013

I was honestly not sure what to convey in this piece. I wasnt sure what approach I should takein writing about my life. I didnt want it to be preachy, but I didnt want it to be boringeither. Iwanted my essay to captivate my reader as much as the Hunger Games movie or Harry Pottermovies would captivate interested viewers. My title is a silly depiction of my dream job (that is, inthe event that I am not famous for any of my other skills by the time I am 30), which is editing. Icouldve done a much better job in conveying how events of my life helped to shape my life but Ireally had a hard time with writing this piece. Please take it for what it is worth. I hope youreceive some form of enjoyment from it. Thank you for reading!!

Editing. My, Life!- Draft 3

I was given choices when I was born into this world, which is not what many of

my ancestors have the privilege of saying. The choices I make will strongly shape the

events of my life. I can choose whether I am going to go to school and learn a trade

along with general education and be a successful business person. I can choose to live

the life ofThe Godfather or the head of the Cosa Nostra (or the mistress

Goomah/Goomar in my case, since I am a female). I can choose to be someones

parent while I am still struggling to raise myself at a young age while still in school. Hell,

I can even choose to be Godzilla and make my life into a scary fantasy. But the point is I

stillhave to make a choice. For me, the choice has been narrowed down. I am either

going to become famous for being a quadruple threat (singing, acting, dancing, AND

writingyes, Im thattalented!), or Ill just be content with my dream of becoming an

editor for some widely recognized publishing company. I am certain my dreams will lead

me in a more positive direction than the aforementioned dreams, but to even come

close, I need an education. So, I chose to chase my dreams through first learning how


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to read and write. Nevertheless, it is my cultural background, religious teachings,and

strangely entertaining upbringingthat have bolstered my insatiable need to read and in

turn, project my ideas on others and correct everything I lay eyes on, ultimately creating

a passion for editing.

Growing up, I learned from the beginning that I was, well, different. Different from

my siblings (by way of mannerisms, behavior, personality, and skill traits), different from

my peers (by way of skin color, level of intelligence, interests, and skill set), different

from most of the girls around me (by way of appearance, friendliness, popularity, the

attention I received from the male companions, and skill abilities). I was categorized as

differentin more ways than one, and even though I felt just like everyone else, for the

most part I could tell I was different as well. I had no problem getting my foot in the door

because I was considered slightly attractive and I spoke up a lot and demanded a lot of

attention. The ratio of black to white in my classroom settings was always 1:25 and so I

gained a competitive edge that could not be misconstrued. I wanted to be the best at

whatever the best was and it was this competitive nature that sparked my interest in

knowledge and education.

Coming from a background of no money, no rights, no contacts or relations to get

my foot in the door... People of color dont always have an easy time coming-up as the

old folks in the south would say to describe the symbolized status of wealth that was

seemingly gained easier by Caucasian folks. My African-American decent automatically

put me between a rock and a hard place because times have been simply tougher on

my race since the beginning of time. Wealth wasnt just going to be handed to me,


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opportunities werent just going to be knocking at my door, and educational

advancements werent going to be lurking on every street corner. Every single day I

have to fight for what I want. I have to bite, scratch, scrape and kill if I ever stand a

chance against anyone who has the same desires as me, the same dreams as me and

the same aspirations as me, but, different skin color than me. I have to challenge myself

to become better than my adversary: myself. This means that I have to study a day

longer, read a little faster, sing a little louder, work a lot harder, strive to achieve greater.

I quickly learned that being an African-American woman means more than just

the surface difficulties or the challenges I face because of my skin colorandmy sex. It

also means that people are watching more intently and more intimately to see if I mess

up. One wrong decision, one bad step out of line, or avoiding what is supposed to be

the black mans fate, would have my life going downhill quicker than sinking in quick

sand. I chose to stay in line an follow a path that will lead me to success. I chose to read

and reading was my way out. In my younger years, that even meant reading the Bible.

My family has emphasized the importance of faith and being successful. My

parents, grandparents, and practically every African-American sage older than me

taught me a metaphor for choosing to live a righteous or unrighteous life. They would

say, you can either live in this world, or you can live ofthis world the choice is yours.

This was a decision that determined whether or not ones actions were pleasingto the

Lord. Back in the Biblical days, the metaphor to live of this world meant that one was

living an evil life that would ultimately cause s/he to live in Hell amongst other demons

who failed to live for the Lord. Living in this world, however, meant that you walked in


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line with Gods teachings and lived a pure life resulting in ones soul living on eternally

with the Angels in Heaven.

In a modern sense, these terms take on different meanings. I came to

understand that being ofthis world means that one is trapped with habits that were not

going to help them to succeed and accomplish whatever God placed them on Earth to

accomplish. In laymans terms, being of this world means being involved with things

like drugs, gangs, violence, sex, theft and disrespect. In other words, was I going to run

wild in the streets and be consumed by the wicked ways of the world? Living simply in

this world means remaining pure and respectful and keeping in mind that ones body is

the Lords temple. In other words, was I going to study the word of God, live the pure life

that God intended, and be all that He put me on this earth to be?

I chose to simply live in this world, because I dont want to allow someone or

something else take over my life and my dreams. That would defeat the entire purpose

of my ancestors fighting for my freedom many years ago. I cannot afford living up to my

worst nightmares, having my life taken away from me by any means; that included

being caged in a jail cell or having some drug lord dictate my every action and ultimately

my future, whether I lived or died. I didnt want to make the same ruthless mistakes as

many of my predecessors. No. Not I. That was notgoing to be my life! Education was

my only outlet. And so with that I took to reading, which, unlike many in my position, I

found most interesting.

It comes as no surprise that the first books I ever read and that were first read to

me were childrens Bible stories. David and Goliathseemed to be the more dominant


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of my memories. I was intrigued with how well this tiny young man of God was able to

defeat this ginormous giant-like creature, which represented all things evil, with simply a

slingshot and a rock. How bizarre is that? I would like to know who had that much

strength. Not even Hercules could defeat any of his enemies with a miniscule rock. But I

guess thats why I was so engrossed. I even loved all the stories ofNoahs Arkand how

the animals and one set of humans came two by two, one male one female of every

creature, to gather on this boat. The idea was that God was going to wash away all the

destruction and the evils of the world and start all over again by allowing the members

of the boat to procreate and create a new world free of sin and people who grew

accustomed to living of this world. I often wondered if God was going to make it flood

on Earth to get rid of the many terrible influences still here today. I quickly learned that

every time I see a rainbow it is Gods promise that he would never flood the Earth again.

Too bad, I thought, for those habitual sinners. Now they would just have to die and rot in

Hell for all eternity. It was because of these Bible stories that I developed an interest in

learning more. I was strangely enthralled and captivated. It wasnt until Hooked on

Phonics that I truly learned how much I loved reading about every other subject in

addition to religion. Hooked on Phonics taught me how to take my time and sound out

words and spell things with individual letters that would eventually form words and

sentences.

I wanted badly to venture out and explore this new talent that I was being faced

with and challenge myself to the best of the best in all that I did. I picked up the oddest

things to read, it didnt even matter to me because all I wanted to do was show off the

fact that I could read. And show off was exactly what I did. I read everything,


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everywhere, in the smallest of areas with the biggest voice I could establish. The world

is full of possibilities, that, I knew for sure. I attempted to read the smallest of things in

the smallest of forms, from the LOrealshampoo bottles instructions, when I wasnt

screaming from getting my hair washed, to the Ramen noodle directions, when I was

nosey trying to figure out what hidden surprises laid in the pantry for me, to The Lords

Prayerwritten on a clock set shaped like praying hands that I recited almost every night

before I went to bed.

I slowly began to explore many new ways of reading. I even began listening to a

lot of books on tape and on television, but the most interesting way I learned to read

was simply by listening to my mothers voice. My mother was a singer. She sang a lot

and she sang all the time. She would singa bookas she read it to me. I had never

heard this before. It was the most interesting skill I couldve picked up from her. She

loved to sing and I loved to hear her sing because she didnt have a raspy, irritating

voice. She had a beautiful, melodic, and mellow singing voice which made story time all

the more exciting. I loved to mimic my mothers skill and eventually I became good at it

and started to sing my own stories. I would show off this newfound skill to my siblings

and cousins and to my dad as he taught us girls how to defend ourselves with some

basic kicks and punches. Everyone was captivated in how beautiful my voice was that

they barely paid attention to my reading But I knew that they believed I read well for

my age because I would always get rewards from my teachers in school.

When I was in Elementary school, I was even placed in the Accelerated Reader

Program or AR. These avid readers were able to be pulled out of class to participate in


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a fun reading club. I loved it and all the attention that it carried from my peers. Sooner or

later, reading became my favorite thing to do. Every time there was something that the

teacher or Sunday school preacher needed help reading I would always squirm around

in my chair and produce the biggest ruckus so that there was no mistaking my

existence. I hooped and I hollered and I pouted when I wasnt chosen and then after a

while my manipulative methods worked. More and more I was being called on by

instructors to read this word, this sentence, this paragraph, this page, this chapter and

eventually, this book to the class. As appreciative and excited I was that I had gained a

knowledge and education that my race was not initially afforded, I slowly became

annoying in that I wanted to correct people often to make sure that theyknew that I

knew that theywere just wrong. My teachers and parents thought that it would be better

to channel my snappy intelligence in a more positive direction and so editing became

the path that I explored.

Each sign of growth in my education, each choice I have made, and each

positive influence that surrounds my life have been a huge factor in my literary

experiences ultimately prompting me for success in the field of editing. Had it not been

for my cultural disadvantages, my religious teachings, and my musical interests, I would

have never been so eager to try to venture out and explore the endless possibilities of

success that awaited an intelligent, African-American, woman like myself. I guess my

being different set me up for an opportunity to choose the path that would allow my

dreams of becoming an editor to be one step closer to coming true! I now understand

the significance of a rainbow appearing after a long period of rain, because my learning


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to read is demonstrative of a brighter day in the life and times of African-American

women aspiring to be an editor.

Documents

Editing. My Life!-Draft 3-Original-Hadassah McGill