A Victim that Survived

     To understand me is to understand my past. My parents are of Haitian decent, my father highest level of education is the 8^th grade and my mother is the 4^th or 5^th grade.  Both of my parents were blind but education for their children was their highest priority. I was a troubled child until a teacher realized that I was bored and was not learning much in my current grade and suggested that I be skipped from 4^th to the 6^th grade and once I got into the 6^th grade I went into the 8^th grade immediately after. At the age of 11 I was gang raped and molested in that same year but I never allowed my education to suffer. I continued to excel in school. At the age 14 I became pregnant with my first child, 19 is when I had my second and last child. With the assistance of my mother I learned real quick what it was to raise children. We struggled but I did not want my children to be another statistic of the streets so we pushed forward as a family. 

     My major is in Women and Gender Studies, after working with victims, survivor and what I call over comers in KBCC I realized that women, that should speak don’t and those that do shouldn’t. I say this, because when I attended KBCC I was the student that wished that the professor never called on me to present, making a speech and even speaking in forums out of fear of sounding stupid or not having the correct answers, but I came to realized that my voice was helping other students in different challenges in their lives, career goals or educational aspirations. The women I said shouldn’t are the ones that judge another person for their skin, hair or even their appearance just to make themselves feel good. My ultimate goal is to become a Social Worker and later obtain my Phd in Psychology and I realized what my career path was going to be by speaking to other women. They peeled my shell and allow a flower to bloom in me, by shattering the fear I had of speaking in front of others (speech).

     While learning how to use my voice in a powerful setting, I also, learned how to use technology and media to teach others. As a volunteer in a women shelter and using my home as a safe haven for teens, I've been using skits, art, media and literature to assist victim across the threshold of victim to survivor.Victims tend to stay in the position of victimization and not allow the healing process to begin.

http://youtu.be/iv3VT9jP6Cw