Me and My Family

My name is Andre and I am 26 years old. I have a wife and three children. I have two sons and a daughter. There names are Kenisha, Javonte, Malachi, and K'Mya. I love my family with all my heart and there is nothing that I wouldn't do for them. My wife supports me in everything that I do and I'm so grateful.

I grew up in the small town of Shelby, MS. I am also the baby of eleven kids. Until about five years ago, I was the biggest baby in the family. I had eight brothers and three sisters. My oldest brother and sister both past away. My oldest brother(James) past before I was born. My sister(Mary) past in 2001 from breast cancer.
My sister had one son before she died. His name is Christopher. Chris had it easy as a child in my eyes because it was just him and he didn't have to worry about have to share anything with anybody. I felt bad for him because he was the only child of his mother. He does have brother's and sister's on his father's side but he didnt' see them that often. Chris (Tweety) as we call him is a rapper. The whole family thinks that he is very good at it. His style is similar to the rapper "Twista." Tweety was born in the south but raised in the North. He raps fast and I can barely understand what he says.
All but two of the kids have children of there own. That's my brother Terrell and my sister Robin. Terrell is an artist that is letting his talent go to waste. He is very gifted and sometimes I would wish that I had his talent. As for Robin, she is a very skilled in interior decorating but she majored in child psychology. Opposite ends of the stick huh. I have much respect for them but I'm hoping that one day they will wake up and realize that they are suppose to be much more.
As for me, I'm just buying my time until I feel comfortable to accomplish my dreams. My dreams are almost at my finger tips. I love working with kids and sports. I want to be a coach. Football and track move me in directions that I only dream about. Back when I was playing sports for my school, I began blowing people away. No one every knew that I was as talented as I was. I admit it, I was afraid of people and what they might think about me. One morning I got up and said, "the hell with it." I took all I had, pride and all to the field. I was going to give it my all reguardless of how people looked at me. Needless to say I made the team and I couldn't be stopped, so I thought. I was injured by my own teammate because I had taken his spot on the field. Enough about that.
I have my oldest son right out of high school in 2000. My daughter four years later. And now I have a stepson. My wife's son. My kids mean the world to me and I would do anything possible for their well being. If it could be done then I would do it. Family is important to me. It just the time you spend together that helps you learn more about them and their hopes and dreams.

Dreams

There are so many things that I would like to accomplish in life before it is to late. Right now they seem is if they are all out of my reach. But I know if I work hard enough that my dreams will one day come true. I dreamed of being the fastest man in the world, a pro fooball player, and a driver in nascar.

My dream of being a pro football player will be my first task because I'm getting closer and closer to being one. I know that I have to take baby steps before I can play in the NFL, but I'm willing to do whatever it takes to make it. I have try-outs with the AFL in november of this year. My chances of making that team is very strong. They only have six players returning from last year and they are looking for twenty-four more. All I have to do is show up and give them everything that I have and the leave the rest to faith.
I also dream of one day being the fastest man in the world. I am a running and will always be a runner. I'm quick and smooth like the wind. Once I'm in a zone it is hard to get me out of that zone. I have a one track mind when it comes to running. Running is one of the many things that I can do and not get in trouble for it. Running takes my mind away from everything. When I'm running nothing else matters. That is get burnt or burn somebody else. Either way I'm happy.
As far wanting to drive a nascar, that's different. I like to drive anything that is fast. The fastest that I've ever drove was 175mph. That was on the interestate because I was racing someone for pinks. So since I have this need for speed, I would love to take it to the tracks for real. I have never lost a race and I don't plan on losing one. Back when i was in high school, I use to drag a 1989 Ford Escort. Trust it was faster than it actually looked. I'm a mechanic and I added all of the modifications myself.

About Me and Where I've Been

When I was growing up is a child, things were different then what they are now. I remember being able to go to the store and get some everything for just a dollar. Everything has changed. We've changed presidents several times, gas prices keep going up, and more and more young people are dying.
Where we lived, we didn't have to worry about any violence or anything like that. I was born in Shelby, Mississippi where there was no crime. I lived in shelby until I was five years old and my mother decided that we should move. So we did. We ended up moving to Cleveland, MS where I went to Five different schools. I spent one year at H.M. Nailor Elementary, four years at B.L. Bell Elementary, and one and a half years at the Hayes Cooper Center for Math, Science, and Technology. We had moved to a different part of town so ended up having to go to a different school as well. I was getting to the point where I just wanted to be left in the school that I was in. I had to end up going to Hayes Cooper because I had gotten a perfect score on one of those state tests. If a student was to do that, they would send them to the smart school. I hated that school but at the same time, I liked it to. I hated because it was a school full of smart kids. There is nothing wrong with being around smart kids but it just wasn't for me. I had no friends there and I wasn't trying to make new ones. Reason being is because I stayed across town from everybody. I liked it because we did different things for kids in the lower classes.
For example; when I was in the sixth grade, we put on the show "Where in the World is Carmen San Diego." Each room was a different country and everyone in the class had a different role to play. I would love to do that again. The chances of that happening isn't good at all.
Low and behold we have to move again. This time we moved up north to Elkhart, IN to stay with one of my sisters. Of course I didn't want to be there because I had just gotten use to my new school and had made a few friends. We moved during spring break. I'm thinking that we were just going on vacation but I was wrong. The next school was North Side Middle School. I loved North Side from my first day of class. I was in the seventh grade but I had to take nineth grade classes because they didn't have any classes that I hadn't taken. Lunch was the boom to because it you could buy pizza puffs, burritos, nachos, or just about anything that you wanted. After you eat you could go to the gym or outside. It was totally up to you. We had volleyball, basketball, football, pool, table hockey, and tennis inside and out. I don't know about anybody else but I was in heaven. But just as I get comfortable, we are moving back down south. I almost didn't make the trip on two different occasions. The first one took place during the summer time when there were gang wars. The Gangsta's (G.D.) verses the Vice Lords (V.L.). My family is mostly G's and I was about two seconds from being shot in the head with a thirty-eight. The only thing that saved me was somebody calling my name. I turned around in the nick of time.
The second time was the day before we moving back down south. The girls at my school tried to tie me to a desk so that I wont leave them.

Taylor

What happened this past weekend was very unnessary. To take away something that doesn't belong to you is more than a crime, but a sin. I feel that it is not right nor is it correct to harm a person that has never done anything to hurt you. What makes a person want to take away someone life in the first place. I was shocked when I first heard the news about Talyor Bradford. I was here on campus just two hours before with my son. I just keep wondering what would have happened if I would have tried to leave two hours later then what I did. My son and I could have been the ones to have gotten shot instead of Taylor. I stand with all my fellow classmates and the entire student body as we try to deal with this unfortunate accident. My prayer's go out to the entire Bradford family. I didn't feel any better when I found out that he was a football player. The first person that came to mind was Kenan. At the time he was the only football player that I knew. Losing a classmate is very painful. I have lost several over the years and I would do just about anything to get them back. As I sat in silence watching the news my heart begin to weight a ton. I very strong when it comes to death but I never thought that it could happen here on campus. I didn't know Taylor on a personal basis but it felt as if I did. To be stupid enough to take someone's life is just plain crazy. To me his was just another student but to most he was a friend and family. It could have been anyone that was on this campus that had their life taken away. Just thinking about makes me mad. It makes no sense to just up a kill someone. Things like this happen when you least expect them to and I wish that their was something that could be done about it. Life is to precious for someone to decide that you don't need it anymore. Eventhough this is a sad occasion, I believe deep down that maybe it was just his time to go but not in this senseless way.