Chloe’ Pate - How I Got to Atlanta Technical College
10/19/2010
Growing up for me was rough. My mother was on drugs and my father was out making more babies. Don’t get me wrong, I had all of the nicest things a child could want from toys to cool clothes. But, what’s life when a little girl doesn’t have her mother there to show her the dos and don'ts about being a woman nor her father there showing her how a woman is to be treated by a man? If you ask me, my grandmother was my mother. She did all of the motherly things a mother does for a child. All of her kids were grown and had kids of their own, so doing it all over again was difficult and challenging for her. She took charge and made something possible that maybe was impossible to her.
Grandma Lou was very faithful and knew her Holy Bible well. She made sure I was in church on Sundays."This little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine." To hear my grandmother sing a hymn made my eyes swell up with tears. When it came to cooking, she was a beast. She could cook anything with no measuring cups. God, I can remember the feeling I would get when she smiled. The light use to dance off her teeth, her eyes were big and brown, they would sparkle like a brand new expensive wine glass. Looking into her eyes was like looking in the inside of a crystal ball full of joy and happiness. She had the most beautiful, silky, salt and pepper hair I had ever seen. No visits to the beauty parlor were necessary. Only one stroke of her hands through her hair and it would lie where she wanted it and never made a single move. Grandma Lou’s death was hard to swallow. I was only seven years old and didn’t completely understand the meanings of death. There was no greater hurt than to lose the one I loved and admired all of my childhood.
By the time I made it to high school, I was in and out of trouble. My school's administrator, Mr. Maddox, would constantly tell me "You’re never going to amount to anything." He was a fat, bald headed man that always wore skin tight dress shirts. It seemed as though if he made one false move, the buttons would pop completely off and his belly would explode everywhere."You’re never going to amount to anything." His voice became a tape recorded in my head. Just those few words lit a fire in me. My thoughts began to bombard each other and I started to ask myself, "Man! Could Mr. Maddox be right? Will I ever amount to anything?" I knew it was something in life I could amount to but I just didn’t know at that moment. Damn Mr. Maddox! I am going to prove him wrong.
My second year of high school was the same as the year before. Half way into the 11th grade I had dropped out of high school and started working a minimum wage job. It was just enough to get by. Finally, I was tired of slaving and flipping burgers for a lousy $5.25/hr. I realized living from pay check to pay check isn’t what I wanted and would soon become a habit for me." You can’t stay in my house not be working or going to school," my aunt would nag the hell out of me. I knew that she only wanted the best for me. I couldn’t spend another second sitting on my aunt's couch. If I didn’t take a chance at getting my life together, I may have never gotten out. My mother and father showed me the alternative to getting your life on track. So, I decided to go back to school but I was already a year behind my class-- they were getting ready to graduate.
A close friend of mine introduced me to a GED program called YES (Youth Enhancement Services Inc.) in East Point, GA. where she had gotten her diploma. I wasn't too sure about getting a GED because I was too worried about what the next person would think of me. Classes were held on Mondays and Tuesdays at the East Point Library. One Tuesday morning I got dressed and headed to the library to enroll. "Hi, may I help you with something?" I looked up and saw a goofy looking guy about 5"8 with thick bifocals. He went by the name of Mr. Thomas. I'd immediately been drawn to this crust stain on the corner of his mouth. My first guess was that he didn't wash his breakfast away that morning. Nonetheless, I still had to come in contact with him to get any farther than where I was. I replied by asking if I was in the right place. Upon examining the room, I noticed that there were more older students than there were younger ones. Seeing that encouraged me to want my education that much more. Dropping out of school was the biggest mistake I could have made. Though I was giving the GED program all I could give, there were times that things managed to get hard. During my journey, I met so many wonderful people. There was this one lady in particular named Ms. Kai Williamson, who I connected with immediately. She gave me one-on-one sessions and we even talked about off topic subjects - one being my life! Still, until this day, I can call Ms. Kai whenever I need her.
After receiving my GED diploma, my new life had just begun. My ego was bursting through the roof, and I was ready to take off. I got with my GED instructor to search for colleges in my area. Atlanta Technical College and Atlanta Metropolitan College were the two schools nearby. After reviewing both schools and touring both campuses, I made up my mind that ATC was the school for me. There were so many people in admissions and financial aid. It was like the day 30,000 people were fighting to get 100 Section 8 applications. I could have screamed, but everyone at YES and Ms. Saunders really helped me through all of the paperwork. I wasn't too sure what program I wanted to enter. I went from Emergency Medical Tech to Patient Care Assistant, and back around to Emergency Medical Tech, then to Pharmacy Tech. I was terribly confused. Shortly after registering for school I took my placement test to determine my strengths and weaknesses. So, here I am in English 097 suited and ready to test out!
