By: Marcus Carter, ENGL 336.002
If you think of people as gingerbread men, it is easier to visualize this analogy. On the outside, the men could be pristine: decorated in icing, coated in sugar, resembling the deep, gingery brown of perfection, yet inside they are unfinished. To become a finished product, it takes heat, or circumstances, and time. Each gingerbread man is different so the time and difficulty that causes maturation will vary. But by examining the inside of the ginger-person, say, with a toothpick, the progress of his or her baking will be revealed.
Recently, I sat down with a student, appropriately named
Linsay Baker, to probe her essence and motivation. On the surface Ms. Baker has it all together,
tan sweater, gray shirt, blue jeans, New Balance, topped with a silver leaf
pendant pinned onto the sweater – in a word pristine. Yet, the difficulty in her life that formed
her personality and shaped her life would be a revelation.
In addition to being a student, Baker works and is a single
mother of two children. The patience, the sacrifice, and effort it takes to
raise a family while attending a university, shows an incredible resolve,
strength, and tenacity of a woman who is only 22 years young. Therefore, it is
fair to say that Linsay Baker is one tough cookie.
Ms. Baker has faced much. When she first was pregnant in high
school, people confronted her about “considering her other options” and others
of her small town began to mumble that she would never amount to anything, but Baker
soldiered on. She moved out on her own, worked, had both kids, finished high
school, obtained her associates degree at a community college, and is currently
seeking her bachelor’s degree in English.
Now, many people look to Baker as an inspiration; although,
she maintains that, “I am no hero or heroine.” She believes that she is “blessed
to have what I have” especially when “anxiety sets in.” What she possesses is a
determination and a great support group that includes positive and supportive
friends, a mother “who has been a rock”, and the father of her children who helps
out any way he can.
Although, Baker’s journey through life will be
filled with obstacles, she still has many aspirations of creating a strong family
for her kids, establishing a writing career that may lead to the professoriate,
and traveling to high schools to encourage young singled mothers and fathers
that they can make it. Baker contends that “I wasn’t dealt the hand that I
wanted, but I made my own game”, which is her way of stating life is what you
make it. And this is what makes up Linsay Baker, pristine and sweet on the
outside with a fiery passion to succeed on the inside. Linsay Baker, to some
she would be called a hero, but how ever anyone labels Ms. Baker, she will remain
an individual made of substance – baked by circumstances on her way to achieving
success.
Links:
Living health and blogging
http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/11/does-blogging-make-new-moms-happier/?scp=10&sq=young%20mothers&st=cse
Baker's favorite poem
http://www.appleseeds.org/Jack-London_Credo.htm
Recipe for ginger-people
http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/gingerbread_man_cookies/
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