Determined to succeed and prosper in life, I am a  sassy, educated eighteen years young, African American, Native American, and Irish female, known as Shanetta Slayton. I was born and raised in Boston Massachusetts until I was eight, then my mother and I moved to Maryland with my Godmother, until I was thirteen years old, then my mother finally decided to move back to Boston, and I have been here ever since.

    I’ve attended a total of 10 schools before I finally found the school I can completely be myself and succeed in, Boston Community Leadership Academy, a school I knew nothing about. I take school very seriously, and I always strive to do my best, and help others to do the same. My family is not known for being the best academically, but they are extremely supportive of me being better than them in every aspect.

       One of my biggest goals that I am determined to achieve is going to college, then off to graduate school, and doing any and everything in my power to not become a failure in life. I am and will be someone in life; I refuse to just settle for less, I’m going places in my life no matter what!

     At first glance or encounter a lot of people make the mistake of thinking that I am a mean person, so they in turn do not know how to approach me. But in actuality I am a very nice person once you get to know me, but unlike others I’m not as trusting. It takes a while for one to gain my trust, I don’t put much past anyone, so when I first meet someone I’ll be polite and speak, but I mainly sit back and observe how people interact with one another. This allows me to determine who is and is not the kind of person I need to surround myself with from time to time. But the majority of the time I like to be by myself, especially when I am working on a major assignment. Over the years I’ve learned that people are not as reliable as you may think, and they may not hold up their end of the bargain which then reflects on your grade, which is not fair at all. So if you just work alone you don’t have to worry about your grades ever being jeopardized.

      Other than determining who is and is not a true friend or an honest person, the occasional struggles with my math classes, and the problems or family secrets that may surface once in a blue moon, the only other issue that I have from time to time is dealing with my biggest competitor, and arch nemeses. Her name is ShanettaS. She always doubts me, and I don’t know why she continues to do so. I have proven time and again that when I put my mind to something and surrender to God (he is the only way to go)I am always successful.  However, there have been quite a few instances where I have allowed Shanetta to deter me from going after what I really wanted. But I’m working on putting an end to that vicious cycle, and turning over a brand new leaf, called self belief.

      The lack of self esteem I witnessed from women in my family, the people I grew up around, and the effects of me being naïve when I was younger taught me a lesson. I learned at an early age that, a lot of people who you may think are your friends or love you, really do not love or care about you, and will drag your name in the dirt every chance they get. So in order to survive in this big bad world one needs to have a strong sense of self, and a back bone. Do not allow anyone to disrespect you in any shape or form. If you let one slide, then a thousand will attempt the same thing. So now I think of life as a game, which I am determined to win. However, just because life is a game to me, it doesn’t mean that I take it lightly or that I don’t know the seriousness of my next move. I am also aware that I may fall or slip up every now and then, but then again no one is perfect; so if I do fall, then I will simply get up “dust myself off and try again” making my next move a lot better than the previous one (Aalyiah 2000).