I was born on Wednesday July 26, 1978 and named Sherry Nicole Dickerson. My mother, a Caucasian woman named Donna, and my father, an African American man named Fred, were both only 21 years of age when I came into this world. With times changing, but still not there yet, their biracial relationship quickly dissipated after the birth of my sister only 14 months later. Growing up with a single mother who was just trying to raise her two children was not always easy, but it taught me many things. Moving place to place and even ending up in shelters at one point is a big part of my childhood memories. Two things that never wavered in those days were my love for music and my thirst for knowledge. Unfortunately tough times at home led me to dropping out in my 11th grade year, getting a job, and moving into my own …show more content…
apartment in 1996. Time flew fast for my late teens and early twenties.
I had found the party life quite exciting, and let that fill many of my nights and days. Besides being social, I always had a song in my heart, lyrics written on paper, and a mic in my hand. I loved to sing and did it whenever I could. Music however, did not pay the bills so I found a job in the Medical billing field around 2001 and quickly progressed to making great money. During all of this time I never went to get my GED. Honestly, I was having too much fun and making nice money at what I did to even consider the option. Once I hit my late 20’s I began to settle down some. You see, my sister now had three children of her own to raise and I was determined to make sure she had all the help she needed. I started realizing that many other things mattered besides just partying. I began to save my money and plan vacations for myself. I have traveled all over the United States over the years, and take at least two vacations a year. It doesn’t matter where I go I must be by the ocean at some point each year. This would be why California and Florida are among some of my favorite places to
visit. Another thing that changed now having children in my life was my ways. In 2011, I sat down the mic and picked up the Bible. I joined Liberation Christian church and what I thought was a stopping point in my life was truly only the beginning. Within two months I was nominated as leader of Worship. With very little knowledge of this role I went full steam ahead. I began to lead the congregation in worship and also my team. In 2012 I was chosen to be awarded as leader of the year. Yes my life had truly taken off, but I still didn’t know where I was going. I realized by early 2013 my heart just wasn’t in my medical billing job anymore. I petitioned to God for my next move and it hit me, I need to be a Music Therapist! I started doing research and learned that this field would not only be something I loved but something that could help with my music ministry at church, and also writing music. In October of 2013 I sat down in a desk at Forest Park Community College and took my GED test, by December of 2013 I found out I passed, and by February of 2014 I was officially enrolled as a college student. Yes Life was moving onward and upward! I’m currently going to school full-time, working full-time, leading worship, and continuing to grow with my awesome family. Life sometimes feels so hectic, but I thank God to be a living testimony of what change and growth can do! So grateful of my story and all that I’ve been through! It’s what makes me the Lyrical Sherry D.
I was born on September 15th, 1999 in a small town called Watervliet, MI. I was the first born out of three children, and the only girl. Growing up as the oldest and the only girl in a traditional Mexican family was definitely not the easiest thing to deal with. My parents have always been strict with me, which I believe has shaped me to be a responsible woman. I have two younger brothers who are 15, and 10 years old.
My parents both grew up in a small south Georgia town called Pelham. My mother, Nancy, was the daughter of a farmer and a seamstress. She was the oldest of four girls. My father, Howard, was also the son of a farmer and a house wife. My dad was the ninth of eleven children. Mom and dad were high school sweethearts through out their high school days. They got married August 15, 1971. They will be celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary this next month.
I have always grown up around the influence of hard work. My mother and father’s life together began off to a rough start. My mother got pregnant at the age of 20 with my brother. Her family was not very supportive of it; therefore, she was on her own. She used to tell me about how she would sit and cry in a one bedroom apartment that she lived in with my brother wondering what she was going to do. Although she had to grow up faster than she
Being the second oldest of eight children, there was never a dull moment in our house. Personality differences were common but the love we had for each other was obvious. With this being said, I am the only child out of those eight that has not only graduated high school but I am now working towards my Bachelor Degree in Elementary Education. We were a poor family and education was not on the top of the list of priorities. The first four of us were like stair-steps and seven years later came another set of stair-step children. My closest sister, Evie, was deaf and my mother sent us both to a school for the hearing impaired to ensure someone could communicate with her. I have fond memories of this school and the time Evie and I were able
I have to admit that I will not look fondly on my high school career. I spent most of my study time going out with my friends. I felt that I was paying my dues with the eight hours of boredom that began most of my days. Until now there were only a few classes that I enjoyed. In retrospect, I believe that it was my inability to choose the classes I took which resulted in my lack of enthusiasm on the ride to school each morning.
Halfway through my sophomore year, my mom ran into some financial troubles. We had no choice, but to move away from my high school, and move in with my grandparents. After we moved, she didn’t have a job for over a year. I really didn’t want to switch schools. I was comfortable at my school and with my friends. My mother was willing to let me continue going there, even after we moved. I drove 30 minutes, everyday so I could go to school. It wasn’t easy, but it’s been worth it. I had to get up even earlier, I
As to be expected, I like anyone else, faced challenges at home that tested my academic abilities. In dealing with the emotional abuse of an alcoholic-bipolar mother, I persevered and did everything I could to prove I was better than the mother who was raising me.
...ved to go on family trips. Our go to spot was Florida until the kids started to grow older, to about 12. That’s when we started taking trips to other countries. We had gone around Europe, Australia, a couple of countries in South America and Asia, and Morocco and South Africa. Mason and I also loved taking fishing and hunting trips to Canada and Colorado.
I didn’t have a lot growing up but I my parents made sure we always have what we needed. My mother and father always wanted me to get an engineer or a business degree. They wanted to be able to make more money and become more successful than they ever were. When I showed an interest in history and psychology in high school I knew they would be disappointed in me. I never cared about making money, I knew I wanted to be able to make a living doing something that I was passionate about. One day I hope to get my degree in social work and do just that. One of my favorite sayings is that if you enjoy what you do you will never work a day in your life written by Confucius.
Growing up as an only child I made out pretty well. You almost can’t help but be spoiled by your parents in some way. And I must admit that I enjoyed it; my own room, T.V., computer, stereo, all the material possessions that I had. But there was one event in my life that would change the way that I looked at these things and realized that you can’t take these things for granted and that’s not what life is about.
Being a first generation college student and working with my mother majority of the days that I was not in school to allow me to have the opportunity for an American dream from a very young age only positively impacted me. It made me realize that no one is born a genius, but everyone has the potential for it and that is determined by what work you do with the potential. My circumstance has only stimulated me to be successful and challenge myself everyday to reach my full potential-then some.
That summer after school I just wanted to find a job and start making some money. Going to college for anther four year was something I thought I could not handle. I final got a job at UPS unloading trucks. At first I thought how hard could it be? But every day I would come home exhausted from working in the heat. And then when I got tiny pay check, it hit me. From then on I decided that manual labor was something that I could not do the rest of my life and I could definitely not support a family on that income. A job behind a desk in the air conditioning was what I wanted.
I had to mature quickly and learn how to take care of someone else besides myself. I am now a mother to four children. They have taught me how to have patience. This has become something I value very much. I have learned that in life you must wait for things. I now know that there was a reason why I had my son so early and wasn’t able to go to college upon graduating high school. I am so thankful that I had patience and waited for the right time to enter. It has been 14 years since I graduated high school, and I’m attending college and know exactly what I want to become. I had patience and took care of my babies at home before I decided to go to school. It hasn’t always been easy, but I’m so glad I
I was born on a Monday morning at 5:33. Although my mother was not in labor for long, she did take her time getting to the hospital to give birth. I was born on April 23, 1984, the day after Easter as a Taurus. In general, Taurus’ are stubborn people and can bring harmony from chaos. Taurean women tend to be very maternal and go-getters who often get what they want. Like a Taurus, my birth was a stubborn one, well, I suppose my mother was the stubborn one. It was Easter Sunday, and my mother had guests over and was cooking a magnificent leg of lamb (she is the best cook I have ever met), which she planned to enjoy with her family and friends. It was during her day in the kitchen that she went into labor. As the labor pains struck, she continued to cook and prepare the meal she had been planning. My mother was not going to go to the hospital until she sat down with her guests to enjoy the holiday feast. After the dinner, she finally gave in and went to the hospital with my father. Maybe deep down, my mother knew I was stubborn, yet strong willed and would wait for her to finish what she had started.
Finally, I became more independent. I realized that in order to make it on my own, I needed to grow up. With the help of my parents, I learned to cook and clean. One can only eat junk food for so long before you start missing a real, homemade meal. Next, I got a job and started budgeting for my upcoming move. I also made living arrangements for both my sister and I in Miami, as well as, research what type of employment was available for high school graduates.