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From YouTube: Mahalia Gatling
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A
Good
morning,
I
am
mahalia
and
I
am
a
senior
at
north
county
high
school.
When
I
was
growing
up,
I
lived
in
the
projects
and
there
was
the
only
family
I
knew
it
was
the
kind
of
place
without
swing
sets.
It
seemed
as
if
we
were
all
related
in
my
neighborhood
and
if
you
weren't,
related
nine
times
out
of
ten
one
of
our
grandmother's
or
even
great-grandmother's,
grew
up
together,
lived
in
that
neighborhood
or
another
low-income
neighborhood
near
by
the
way
I
saw.
My
neighborhood
may
be
different
from
the
way.
A
Most
of
you
remember,
your
first
neighborhood
I
recognized
it
as
family,
but
life
wasn't
easy
and
at
the
time
it
was
just
my
mom
and
me
when
I
turned
six,
my
mother
lost
her
job.
The
cabinets
were
more
even
more
bad
than
usual
and
we
were
being
threatened
to
be
evicted.
A
lot
of
our
help
came
from
the
strong
bonds
we
had
with
our
family,
especially
my
grandmother.
She
is
truly
a
blessing
and
without
her
I,
don't
think
standing
here
would
be
possible.
A
A
She
always
had
plenty
of
snacks
and
extra
stuff
for
me
to
do,
and
the
kids
that
lived
around
there,
never
cussed
at
me
or
threatened
me
like
back
home
at
my
mom's
neighborhood
I,
like
being
at
my
grandma's,
but
I
couldn't
stand
to
leave
my
mom.
It
was
a
love
and
hate
situation.
To
me
it
wasn't
just
living
in
a
substandard
area.
A
It
was
the
people
around
and
how
they
talk
to
each
other
and
not
being
able
to
go
outside
once
the
street
lights
came
on
because
it
was
too
dangerous
that
really
discouraged
me
I
never
want
to
live
there
again.
Once
we
moved
to
glen
burnie,
my
sister
was
already
born
and
that's
when
things
started
to
get
really
difficult
for
me.
Now
that
my
sister
was
in
the
picture
starting
in
ninth
grade
after
my
sister's
dad
and
moms
broke
up,
a
lot
of
stress
came
down
on
me
at
this
time.
A
I
was
old
enough
to
babysit,
and
my
mother
was
working
the
three
to
11
p.m.
shift,
and
sometimes
she
would
work
16
hours
of
the
day.
Although
my
mother
was
working
a
lot,
she
often
still
didn't
have
enough
money
to
pay
a
babysitter.
My
great
grandma
would
pick
us
both
up
from
school
at
the
end
of
the
day,
feed
us
and
then
take
us
home
around
nine
or
ten,
so
he
wouldn't
have
to
be
home
all
day
alone.
I
would
be
stuck
with
all
of
the
things
my
mom
wasn't
able
to
do.
A
I
will
wake
up
in
five
make
sure
my
sister
was
up
getting
her
ready,
then
get
myself
ready.
I
would
never
make
it
to
school
on
time,
because
I
had
to
make
sure
she
got
on
the
bus
safely
and
then
walked
to
school.
If
I
had
no
ride,
no
matter
what
the
weather
was.
The
only
reason
my
grades
were
decent
was
because
of
extra
study.
Time
and
avid
I
was
miserable.
I
was
always
tired.
My
future
was
starting
to
slip
and
the
worst
part
of
it
all
was
I
had
to
keep
it
all
to
myself.
A
I
was
forced
to
put
up
with
living
like
that
for
almost
nine
months,
then
my
mother
got
a
better
job
with
better
hours,
so
she
could
be
home
with
us
during
the
day.
That
was
around
the
time
we
moved
to
north
county
high
school
when
I
waltzed
into
ms
go
first
avid
class.
On
the
first
day,
I
felt
like
I
was
walking
into
someone
else's
living.
Miss
go
forth,
worked
really
hard
to
make
avid
feel
like
a
family
environment.
A
We
participated
in
plenty
of
team-building
activities
like
pictionary,
and
a
complement
game
through
this
I
learned
that
my
new
school
mates
were
warm
and
welcoming
and
that
many
of
them
came
from
similar
situations.
They
made
me
feel,
like
I,
had
been
in
the
same
classroom
with
them
all
year.
I
wasn't
alone.
Miss
go
forth
is
always
there
to
listen
to
me
and
give
me
options
when
I
feel
like
I
have
no
options.
On
my
17th
birthday,
the
first
person
I
wanted
to
see
was
Miss
go
forth
to
tell
her
that
I
broke.
A
A
I
was
excited
to
tell
her,
because
I
knew
she
would
be
happy
for
me
and
it's
important
to
have
a
dolt
like
that
in
your
life.
Avid
gave
me
that
person
over
the
summer
of
my
senior
year
I,
was
preparing
myself
to
take
three
AP
classes,
I'm
used
to
always
taking
one,
but
this
year,
I
wanted
to
try
and
challenge
myself.
It
was
three
weeks
left
of
summer
and
I
hadn't
completed
any
of
the
summer
assignments.
A
I
felt
overwhelmed,
I
texted
miss
go
forth
and
she
made
me
feel
better
because
she
reminded
me
that
there's
an
easy
way
and
a
hard
way
and
every
day
you
have
to
choose
the
hard
way,
especially
if
you
want
to
end
up
living
in
a
nicer
neighborhood.
She
also
taught
that
it's
easier
to
get
homework
done
in
the
library
instead
of
a
loud
house.
So
I
sent
her
a
picture
of
my
first
library
session
and
my
completed
ap
assignments.
She
also
pushed
me
to
take
a
jump
start
class
at
a
sec.
A
I
am
taking
an
instructional
technology
class
to
make
sure
I
like
it
as
a
major
before
I,
actually
get
to
the
University
of
my
choice.
Next
fall.
Evan
has
helped
me
gain
self
control
over
my
emotions
and
showed
me
that
I
have
the
ambition
to
always
do
what's
best
for
me,
no
matter
what
anyone
else
around
me
is
doing.
My
mother
is
doing
a
lot
better
and
I'm,
proud
of
the
person.
I
am
as
well
as
the
person
I'm
becoming.
A
I
never
thought
I
would
be
in
the
position
I'm
in
today
honestly
three
years
ago,
I
didn't
even
know
if
I
would
make
it
to
12th
grade
with
a
decent
GPA.
I
am
doing
everything,
I
knew
I
couldn't
more,
including
sports
work
and
a
jump
start
class
to
a
sec.
I
am
proud
to
have
a
strong
support
system.
Amongst
my
avid
family,
evan
has
given
me
the
opportunity
to
meet
and
surround
myself
with
people
as
the
same
goals
as
I.