Essay About Product Of An Ex-Drug Addict And National Merit Honor Society Inductee

Literacy Journey
Carter 2
Nichelle Carter
J. Chabreck
English 101-81
16 September 2009
Essay 1 (Draft 1)
Literacy Journey
She is a National Merit Honor Society inductee, 4.0 Dean’s list student for three
consecutive semesters now and fluent in four languages. All accolades that would make
any mother proud, but things could have turned out so very differently. Rudy Carter is
the product of an ex-drug addict, ex-convict mother and drug dealing, life sentenced,
father. And if the pundits are to be believed, Rudy should be working on her, born out of
wedlock second or third child, employed at Mc Donald’s and aiming for her
GED.
Eula Mae Dennis, Rudy’s great-grandmother, was a proud woman who never
hesitated to put in a solid day’s work for an honest day’s pay. She hails from Magouin,
Louisiana, the eldest of eight children. This circumstance would tear her from her third
grade classroom and thrust her directly into the fields of her family’s farm. She would
spend many years relegated to the role of farm hand and child care assistant as her family
grew, gaining only second hand exposure, from siblings and friends, to the three “R’s” of
learning, “reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmetic”.
A twist of fate, and depending on your perspective, fortune or misfortune would