Leeza Vernon
English 1109 at 10:30, M-W
Sept 5, 2020
Journal Four
In chapter ten of One And Done there are many themes that can be picked out if you read closely enough. A theme I believed stood out the most was influence and the way influence has an effect on us as individuals. Growing up Maurice Clarett was surrounded by people who were making poor choices such as breaking into cars, drinking, smoking, and stealing. In this chapter, Clarett got his football career taken away from him after he had filed a police report for his car being broken into it. Later on, it got turned against him and he was convicted for falsifying a police report. He then was told he was suspended indefinitely and was no longer allowed to play football. At first, he wasn’t aware of what this meant, but as the school year went on he realized this isn’t the way he should be treated. Towards the end of the chapter when Clarett told us that after he had left OSU, he had gotten very depressed, he said “for me, depression really just felt like being absolutely numb” (Clarett 162). Clarett’s depression played a huge effect on how things influenced him after that. At the very end of the chapter, Clarett proceeds to tell us that he felt as if he was 14 again out on the streets hustling again. The influence of drugs and pills had an effect on him and made him feel as if he was 14 again.
Someone who made an impact on my life and became a role model for me was my assistant principal in high school Dr. Bolden. All throughout high school, he motivated me to do better in school and become a better person. I know as an assistant principal it’s their job to help kids and talk to them, but there was something in the way he motivated kids to do better. He was someone who you could joke around with, but when it came time to be serious he was there for you to talk to. When I had found out I was pregnant in my junior year of high school, he was the first person in the school system that I told. I remember vividly him calling me down into his office and he sat me down and talked to me about ways I could progress faster in school therefore I wouldn’t fall behind when my son came along. He motivated me and I took the opportunity he told me about and finished my junior and senior year of high school together, therefore fall semester I wouldn’t have to be worried about school and raising a newborn. He also talked to me about the importance of school and how even though some days will be hard, to keep pushing. I hope one day I can motivate people the way he motivated me.
It’s amazing how deep people can go when their passion is taken away from them. I fear that this won’t be the deepest he will ever go. I had an assistant principal from my high school who was someone that you could depend on. I never really had a connection with him, but whenever we come across each other in hallways we would stop and have a quick chat.
ReplyDeleteYeah I can definitely understand where you got this theme it did stand out that Clarett was not around the best role models in his early years. Most of the time it seemed that viewed through Clarett's eyes most of this resentment towards him came down from the heads of OSU themselves. We are shown as readers to that his evidence although a bit fetched could be plausible. People hold grudges especially when they think that they are in positions of power over others. We see this time and time again where power is abused but in this case it seemed a like personal vendetta of sorts. Either way Clarett was not exactly a model student so I agree and in a fortunate kind of way we see that Clarett has turned his lives work to improving young lives. Anyhow getting on track I am amazed that one of your teachers cared enough to get you on the right track once you became pregnant. That was really going above and beyond' and I think especially to work with the school on your behalf to get things sorted out. Really cool of him anyhow hope that this school year is not dragging you down.
ReplyDelete