Dustin Sammons
Tennille, Georgia
People often say start with the beginning, but I am pretty sure my life was relatively irrelevant up until maturity! So, in the seventh grade, I truly started to discover who I was. Never before had I even remotely enjoyed school until I took civics. The topics of government and good citizenship facinated me beyond any subject I had ever taken before, and my interest remains with me to this day. In eigth grade, Mrs. Mercedes Youmans, my middle school English teacher, recruited me for the drama team. While I was made fun of constantly for being the only male on the team, it didn't matter to me; the important thing was that I was happy. May Mrs. Youmans rest in peace, as she brought a sense of peace to this young man. While Mrs. Youmans had the greatest impact on my happiness, Dr. Gary Emmons had the greatest impact on my thought process. My ninth grade geography teacher, Dr. Emmons is this cooky old man who has a stricking resemblence to Santa Claus. (He is the older person beside me in the bio photo.) Dr. Emmons's class prepared me for the world, teaching us the difference between Sunni and Shiite Islam, the causes and effects of the immigration problems in the United States, but, most of all, the necessity for good in this dark world we live in. By pushing the class above mine to found Brentwood Kiva, a board that has lent over $5,000 to entrepeneours in third world nations, Dr. Emmons taught me the necessity of spreading that fortune that each of us as Americans are blessed with. With his guidence as a teacher and speaking coach, I would go on to place at literary competition almost every year. As my high school career has drawn to a close, as all the honors days, Football Friday Nights, and morning announcements have come to an end, I can honestly look at my life thusfar and tell myself, "Job well done." Nevertheless, there is still progress to be made, people to help, and love to share. I leave you with a quote by Albus Dumbledore, "It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our ability."