December 17, 2009

Hello!  This is Ondrea Marie Willis here.  Boy, do I have stuff to say today in this journal entry.

First of all, I thank God that the semester is over.  I had a tough one this year, because of the fact that I took Organismal Biology, which I struggled with at the beginning of the semester, especially failing my first lecture exam with a 47!  Ugh!  I was very concerned, so I decided to get a tutor and get extra help from my professor, because I wasn't going to sit there and feel sorry for myself.  No way.  I'm glad I got the extra help, because after the 47, all of my lecture exam grades improved:  63, 69, 81 (seriously, 81 was my final exam grade, and I was happy!).  My practical grades were:  29 (yuck) and 70 (better).  I just thank God I stayed in the class, because I'm not known to be a quitter, for sure.  Desiree was in the same class as me, and she did the same thing I did--get extra help and the tutor, and her grades improved, in a sense, but she didn't quit, either (her lecture exam grades were 50, 59, 76, and 80; her practical grades were 69 and 83 (certainly better than mine, but who's comparing?!)  My Children's Literature class was a blast, because I was able to see a different side of English, and reading the books were a lot of fun although memorizing facts and knowing what the stories were all about were a bit difficult, especially when it came to quizzes.  But that was okay.  I even did a children's picture story book on my life with autism, and I was pretty pleased with that, because it allowed me to express myself from a child's point of view.  Jazz History was a cool class, because it was online, and I was able to listen to some cool jazz music and take quizzes and write essays and all that.  I even went to a jazz concert.

Enough about school, ha ha.  I'm going to talk about what I did today.  I know that the true meaning of Christmas is the birth of Jesus Christ  and not anything else.  But I learned that someone didn't have a job, because he was laid off, and he was saving his money to go on a trip with his church, which was fine.  He really needed some money for his household, because he and his mother were struggling along with his sister and his nephew.  We both went to the same school (Bella Rosa University, of course), and we had some pretty interesting conversations.  I found him hilarious at times, and he gave me some nice compliments.  Plus, he knew Julio very well, because they both used to work at the same pizza place together.

I checked to see how much money I had, and sure enough, I had $180.00.  I did most of my Christmas shopping for some of my family and friends, and I didn't have to pitch in money for bills (yet!).  So I decided to take out $100 and put it in my pocket.  Then I called Julio to see if he could take me to the young man's house.  He said that was no problem.  We went to his house.  The whole family was there--him, his mother, his sister, and his nephew.  I was very pleased.  Then I explained why I was there--I wanted to give the family $100, because I knew they were struggling.  And I told them I did not want to be paid back, because it was an act of kindness, and I know God would have wanted me to do that.  Needless to say, the young man (whose name was Taris; he was a dark-skinned Cape Verdean who was 5'10", and he was 24) was shocked and speechless but very appreciative.  So was his mother and his sister (names Miguelina and Suzanna).  Landon (Taris's nephew, Suzanna's son) gave me a hug.  Julio gave me a smile and told me that I did a great deed.

My mother and my sisters all said the same thing, too, when I got home.  Of course, Taris called my mother and told her what I did, and he told her that I was a beautiful daughter who doesn't mind offering help to those who need it.  That's certainly the truth, and I wouldn't have it any other way.  Thank God.  And yes, I hope to see Taris again sometime soon!

May God bless you!

Ondrea