This document is a letter written by a 42-year-old mother of two from East Orange, New Jersey. She provides details about her family background, daily activities, goals and aspirations which include owning her own restaurant and obtaining a criminal justice degree. She discusses her views on morality, happiness, and includes summaries of several significant literary works, including a short story, song and film, that have positive messages about overcoming challenges and looking forward to a better future.

1. Unit 9: Final Project P Kaplan University (Online) Arts and Humanities: HU300-10 Professor Michael Ray 1

3. I am the youngest of seven of my mother’s children and second youngest of my father’s twenty-five children.

4. My mother is still alive, while my father passed away March 29, 1996. He died exactly one-month before the birth of my youngest child.2

6. I am currently engaged to----------. He is 53 years old, and is from Nigeria, Africa. He is the middle-eldest of three children. He is also a full- time student, (in his senior year), and he is pursing his Bachelors of Science degree in Psychology. Healso owns a taxi cab company.3

8. On Sundays, my family and I attend church, and I take a online Criminal Procedures class at 7:00 p.m.

9. On Mondays, I take a Psychology class at one of our local colleges at 9:30 a.m., and I take an Art & Humanities class online at 8:00 p.m.

10. On Tuesdays, I try spending time catching up on any work that I may have missed.

11. On Wednesdays, I take a online Organized Crime class at 2:00 p.m., and I shoot in a pool tournament at 7:00 p.m.

12. On Thursdays, I shoot in another pool tournament at 7:30 p.m. and

13. On Fridays and Saturdays, I dispatch for the taxi company that my fiancé owns from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.4

14. Customs and Feelings 5 I cannot say that I love the way that our present time is. I tolerate it, because I am here. What I can say is that , “this world would be a much better place if there were less racism, hatred, corruption, crooked law officials and politicians, jealousness, envy, killing/murders, distribution of drugs, teenage pregnancies, single-family households , and last, but not least, under-educated children being passed to the next grade level, because (some) teachers do not want to deal with them.

15. Dreams and Aspirations One goal of mine is to own my own restaurant; in which I would have the opportunity of cooking various types of food for various people. For example, I enjoy cooking Spanish, American, African, Jamaican, Chinese, Italian, and soul food(s). 6

16. Aspirations cont’d. Another one of my goals is to obtain my Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice; with my focus on Correction Office work, so that I may obtain a job working for a “Fortune 500” company, while still running my restaurant. 7

17. Morality or Decision-Making 8 An example of morality or decision-making to me would be, if someone lost a wallet containing personal information, credit cards, cash, or photos, would I make the right choice in trying to get the wallet either back to them or the appropriate authorities. Would I check the wallet for identification, would I see if there was some sort of information that contained either a phone number or an address, for the person who lost the wallet, so that the wallet may be returned? Based on my ethics and my personal upbringing, I would definitely try to see if the wallet contained any information that could identify the person (e.g. phone number, address), if I found no information, then I would definitely return the wallet to the proper authorities. (P. Hill, personal communication, December 15, 2010).

19. Happiness also means looking at the ones who really mean something in your life (e.g. children, partner, companion, etc.) and saying to yourself, “Well done, I have done a wonderful job taking care of these people.”

20. Happiness to me, indicates that I will allow nothing to stop me from being who God created me to be… “Someone who can accomplish anything that I put my mind too!” (P. Hill, personal communication, December 17, 2010). 9

22. This is a story that explains how we as humans, take advantage of things, that brings much pleasure, and are not as appreciative of the smaller things in our lives, as one should be. (Chillemi, 1976).

23. This story is worth preserving for the future, so that others will know that, if they appreciate the little things in life now, in the future, one will be able to appreciate them more. I believe that this story should be an eye opener for most of us, if not all. I am not exactly sure as to why this object was chosen above all the other possibilities. It just seemed fitting.10

24. Significant Literary Art 11 The fact that this piece of art/architecture is life-like, this art form make an interesting piece for making conversation. In addition, recognizable objects are put together in bizarre contexts that seem like visualizations of dreams. (Altshuler & Janaro, 2009). The purpose of this piece was to advertise a shoe store owned by man named Mr. “Colonel” Mahlon Haines. (Haines Shoe House, n.d.).

25. Significant Literary Art cont’d. I believe that this item is worth preserving because, I saw this piece and thought it was skillfully creative and that the person who created it had a brilliant imagination. This is something that we still need to obtain in the future: creativity and brilliance. I think would allow one to excel in everything, if not most, of what they do. 12

27. I have chosen this song because the lyrics explains how if one looks back at the past mistakes he/she has made; then they will look forward to what the future may bring. (http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=18786).This item is worth preserving for the future, so that one may see that, although we did experience mistakes in the past, we learned from them, then told ourselves that there may be a better future to look forward too. 13

29. NOTE: This film was based on a true story.

30. I choose this particular film, due to the fact that, the moral was something that one does not just need to follow today, but even in the future. The moral of this film (to me) was, because a person comes from a broken home, is somewhat undereducated, and has a weight problem, does NOT mean, that they CANNOT or WILL NOT achieve great things with hard work and perseverance. I think that this item is worth preserving for the future, so that they can see what moral were in the 21st century.14

31. Significant Item from Popular Culture The significant item from pop culture that I chose was the afrocomb from the 1970s. (Afro Comb, 1970). This item was something that has been around (it seems like) forever. It was a comb that almost everyone carried around in their pockets back in the 70s and some stated that, “if you did not carry a afro comb, then you were not cool.”(P. Equere, personal communication, December 16, 2010). 15

32. Significant Item from Popular Culture cont’d. I thought this was a item that was worth preserving for the future, so that one may see what some of us have used to style our hair, ad this object may not be above all other possibilities, because in the future many, if not all, may be bald-headed. (LOL) I do not think that this object is above all the other possibilities, Because I as stated earlier, People may be bald in the fut- ure. 16

33. References Afro Comb. Pop Culture Artifacts. (1970). Retrieved on December 16, 2010, from World Wide Web site: (http://www.pophouse.com/display.php?cat=26&item_id=A FRC19. Altshuler, T & Janero, P. (2009). The art of being human: The humanities as a technique for living. 9th ed., New York, New York: Longman. The Blind Side. Going Home. (2009). Retrieved on December 18, 2010, from World Wide Web site: http://www.ovguide.com/video/the-blind-side-2009-going- home-922ca39ce10064fbfd11817a02f58695. Chillemi, S. (1976). The little things we take for granted. Retrieved on December 18, 2010 from http://www.authorsden.com/catergories/stroy_top.asp?catid =76&id=19338. 17

34. References Gokey, D. (n.d.). My best days are ahead of me. Retrieved from World Wide Web site: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=p layer_detailpage&v=Qqus079lUz8. Haines Shoe House, (n.d.). Fun places-off the beaten path. Retrieved November 1, 2010, from World Wide Web site: http://www.shoehouse.us/. 18