My Autobiography

My name is Sarah Smith. My family knows me as the chatterbox. The people on my bus knows me as the squirrel.My father and mother are American from European descent. I am the fifth of the six children with my three sisters and two brothers. All of my siblings, except my only younger brother, are my half siblings. I grew up in Savannah, Georgia. The crime rate there is high. I did not exactly have a good childhood. My father died when I was nine in a car crash. He crashed into a tree and it fell on his truck. I saw the accident scene and will always remember that image for the rest of my life.Plus, I was taken away from my mother and placed into foster care. I stayed in two different homes in 1 and a half year. I was one of the few lucky ones. Most foster kids move from one foster home to another like 6 times a year. Whereas, I was adopted by my cousin. I was again lucky. Few foster kids get adopted and they usually get adopted by total strangers.

I became deaf from spinal meningitis at the age of two. My mother did not think I was desperately sick. My father thought otherwise. He called his mother to take me to the hospital. I had a tempature of 103 degrees. I almost died. I would have died if it was not for my father. I feel proud of my deafness. I have never been ashamed of it. Why should I be ashamed? It is not like it is a handicap. My deafness does not affect my personality. I am the same stubborn Sarah when I was 2. In fact, I love my quiet little world. I have attended three mainstreamed schools before coming to Kendall. It was a lonely experience. I was the only deaf person at the first two schools. I had friends but it got boring after a while fingerspelling to them. They also knew few signs. I longed to have a conversation with a deaf person. When I graduated from Hesse Elementary School, I got my wish. I entered DeRnee middle school and found a small group of deaf people. There was only five of them. Sure, it was a small group but it was not for me. I saw many of my friends who was with me at Hesse Elementary School. I only had interpreters at two of of the mainstreamed school.

I live with my cousin and her best friend now. I love playing soccer, reading, watching TV, and playing with my gameboy. I am lousy at soccer. I am outgoing with deaf people but shy around hearing people. I don't know why. Maybe I am afraid that they will criticize me. I am a bookworm and proud of it. I could read at high school level since I was in seventh grade. I especially love the fantasy books with lots of dragons, magic, and traveling in time and space. My favorite fantasy series are Harry Potter books. I am addicted to them. If you give me a fantasy book, I will devour it within a day or two. My least favorite genre is nonfiction. Sure, I will read newspapers but I won't read boring nonfiction. The make-belief world is cooler than the real one.