Shelley Hubbard
Sociology 101
January 10, 2012

Ethnographic Paper

My parents Ed and Myrla Hubbard were married at a young age and quickly started a family. Whether by surprise or planned they had eight children; (two that did not survive) in a fairly short timeframe. There are four boys and two girls and I am the youngest in the family. Both of my parents dropped out of high school and worked at “dead end” jobs in order to provide for the family. Out of all the children I am the only child that was born in Seattle. I was one of the last babies to be born at Harborview Medical Center. My parents separated shortly after I was born. My father relocated to Oregon while my mother remained in Seattle with all six of their children. My mother was the sole provider from that day forward as my father did not help raise us in any way shape or form. My mother had succeeded at getting her GED and at the time was one of very few women in the state of Washington who were certified at welding. My mother continued taking random college courses through out her life. My mother was proud of all her children although she wouldn’t express this to us as often as she did all her friends. She encouraged all of her children and grandchildren to do well in school in her own way as she would randomly state “it only helps you, and you’re worth it.”
My education has had its trials and tribulations for the very start; to say the least. I was raised in low income housing and dreaded going to school as I didn’t have what the other students did and I was heavier than I should have been so I got teased for those issues and other things as well. I can also remember from an early age that I was often tested for special education classes. This would make my mother very upset as I never qualified and often passed with flying colors. It is so clear in my memory how at such a young age, I thought that if everyone thought I was dumb, than why should I try at all. I passed Middle School; only with the help of going to summer school; in which I did very well when push came to shove. While in high school I was told by a few school counselors and teachers that I was lazy and would not amount to anything in my life time; so again it was like why bother trying what they say must be true. I begged my mother to let me drop out or go to an alternative high school and she would say “I don’t care if you’re your eighty when you graduate you will walk and get your diploma” When I finally figured out she wasn’t playing, I was ending my Junior and was about one in a half years behind in credits; basically I only had the credits of a sophomore. I met with the senior advisor who stated “I would never graduate on time and that I would be on the “six year plan” and that I should just give up and move on to my career path as a fast food worker”; this fueled my fire to prove them all wrong. After weighing my options as to how to earn credits and achieve my goal of graduating on time I enrolled in Beauty School that I attended two nights a week, Saturday afternoons, and all vacation breaks from high school, I took traffic safety every Saturday and was a teachers assistant before and after school daily; I did all of these things all while taking all my required credits in high school. Needless to say I had no life outside of school with no body to blame but myself. I surprised many people including myself when I not only graduated on time but, I also landed on the honor role as well.
I may have been finished with High school but, I was still obligated to finish Beauty school. I completed the 1600 hours that was required so; the next step was taking my state boards. I applied for a testing date and studied like crazy. It took over one month to get the results that I had failed, in my head I was like what’s new? I however had learned that I could do it; I just had to buckle down. I again applied for a testing date and again about four weeks later received the