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Name: Stuart
Three words to describe yourself: passionate, open-minded, empowering
Stuart is from Albany, Georgia but currently, he lives in Athens. He just finished studying Recreation and Leisure Studies and in the fall, he is going to work in Sydney, Australia with his brother. In about five years, Stuart says he will be in graduate school for either Social Work or Counseling. Stuart would then like to work with sexually abused teenagers by taking them to an outdoor camp in the summer. He wants to become a youth speaker and writer and wants to get his PhD for Youth Development. In 2015, Stuart plans on bike riding across America to raise money for cancer research. Both of his grandparents died from brain cancer, so he would also be biking for their memories. Stuart says, "I don't want to start 'real life' yet at 24." Stuart also likes this quote from Albert Einstein: "Everybody's a genius. But, if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it'll spend its whole life believing that it istupid."

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Marty on the left with friends

Name: Marty
Three words to describe yourself: ready to go
Marty is from Baltimore, Maryland and goes to college in College Park where he is studying Theatre. He grew up in theatre and wants "to make work as 'play', That's fun." Comedy show are what Marty prefers to perform and in the future, Marty would like to do more circus and physical comedy and theater. He also wants to go to graduate school for writing and would like to become a director. "I want to have independent theaters . . . and new kinds of performances that involve the audience," he comments. I asked Marty what he would do if he could do anything in the world, and he replied that the best case scenario would be to get rid of the money aspect of theater. He would also meet shamans and Tibetan monks and observe them to see how ritual and entertainment coincide. Marty started playing the piano and he would like to be in the music industry. "I feel like there is a divide in the arts. I would like to bring them together," Marty adds.

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Name: Gerda
Three words to describe yourself: foreign, clueless, realist
Gerda was born in Lithuania and lived there for the first three years of her life. Her dad won a green card through the lottery system and the family moved to Tennessee. After Tennessee, she moved to Jonesboro, Georgia, and then she lived in Maine and finally moved to Hiram, Georgia. "I hate staying in a place for more than five years because moving exposes you to a lot of different cultures," she says. Because Gerda wants to travel, she is studying International Affairs and Russian at UGA. Gerda said that she loved traveling to Prague and Vienna and she would like to step foot on every continent. If Gerda could do anything in the world, she would want to live in a loft and live her life like an artist, but with a lot of money. Gerda says she needs a career with some level of creativity. Gerda's mom's side of the family still lives in Lithuania, so Gerda does get to visit. Last summer, Gerda took a class in Lituania and said that Eastern Europe is more preserved and the pace is much slower than in America; she had a two hour lunch break. Gerda also speaks Lituanian and she loves Harry Potter.

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Francesca is on the left, with her friend on the right
They were our neighbors!

Name: Francesca
Three words to describe yourself: weird, quiet, friendly
Francesca is from Marshfield, Massachusetts and I met her at Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. In the fall, Francesca is going to school to study either culinary arts or restaurant management. "I want to be successful but I don't know in what," she says. She has already traveled and volunteered in India for four months and has worked in Dublin for four months through a program called "Lead Now." I asked Francesca if it was a culture shock to go to India, and she replied, "It was more of a shock to come back home to clean water and streets without cows wandering around." On her bucket list, Francesca wants to visit every state and she wants to go skydiving before turning 21. Francesca loves cats and she has two of them. "I love them like children," she says. Francesca also likes adventuring

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Name: Justin
Three words to describe yourself: intelligent, social, Leo
Justin was born in Powder Springs, Georgia, but he spent some of his life in Piedmont, Missouri. and says his hometown is Dallas, Georgia. Justin goes to school at Georgia State University and he is studying Neuroscience. I asked Justin how he became interested in Neuroscience, and he replied, "Anytime I was thinking about what I wanted to do with my life, it always led back to something with the brain." For a future career, Justin would like to either become a neuroscientist or speech pathologist. Justin would like to do some world traveling and says that he would probably go to Europe first. Justin also mentions he is gay and his motto is: "I do what I want!"

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Name: Tamra
Three words to describe yourself: caring, determined, talented
Tamra is from Hartford, Connecticut and moved to the south at the age of four. She went to school at UGA for Journalism and graduated in 1988. Ever since Tamra was in the 2nd grade, she knew that she wanted to write. Her first job was in Cartersville newspaper. The editor had Tamra cover "a kind of inappropriate story" in which she needed to interview a farmer who found a dead baby in a knapsack. Tamra said that she left this job after this story. Then, Tamra was an editor for a paper in Greenville, South Carolina and she worked with the children's section for the paper writing short stories. After this, Tamra gave up journalism and became a teacher. A few years ago, she had a dream about a dog named Baxter, but when she woke up, there was no dog. Tamra then tried calling local animal adoption centers to get a dog, but because she did not have any experience taking care of dogs, agencies turned her down. One day, Tamra went to a festival and there was an adoption tent. She asked the man at the booth about what available dogs they had, and there was only one left. When Tamra saw the dog for the first time, he had a cone on his head and a peg for a leg. She asked what the dog's name was and the man replied with the name Baxter. Tamra knew then that this was the dog from her dream and that she would have to take him home. A few months later, Tamra was outside with her dog and a man had crossed the street to Tamra with the intention of grabbing her. Before Tamra realized what was going to happen, Baxter had knocked the man down chasing him away. "If I had not had that dream. I wouldn't have adopted Baxter and he wouldn't have saved my life." Later on, she saw an advertisement in magazine that was looking for true stories about rescue dogs. Tamra submitted her story to the magazine, and they chose her story to be the finale in the series.Now, Tamra writes for an animal wellness magazine and is teaching technology, multi-media, and business at a middle school. She has also written a children's book, but it has not been published yet. Tamra would like to have a family of her own, and she says, "I have a family of fur kids . . . It could mean other animals and people." Tamra adds, "I'm blessed. I thank God everyday cause after all, he's the one that gives us these gifts."

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Name: David
Three words to describe yourself: adventursome, tireless, comedic
David is originally from Ohio, and while he was working in Ohio promoting a hospital wing, he found an organization called "Up With People", which is a leadership program that inspires people. With this company, David was able to travel the world and he visited 32 countries and 48 states. For a year, David lived in a Scandanavian and said, "I loved the family unit aspect." He also loved "the beauty" of Greece. David has also worked with Universal Studios and was transferred to California to build live shows for a theme park in Japan. Currently, David wants to bring more of the spiritual centers in Atlanta together and to see the Holmes Institute succeed. He comments, "The more I'm here (in Atlanta), the more I'm comfortable."

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Simon on the left with his co-worker on the right

Name: Simon
Three words to describe yourself: optimistic, energetic, tired
Simon is originally from Yorkshire, England, but before moving to Georgia, he lived in Oahu, Hawaii for two years. He moved because his wife was studying linguistics. I asked Simon what his favorite part about England was and he replied, "I like the fact there's a pub within walking distance everywhere you go." Simon  would like to be either an illustrator or a writer so he could write about all of the world traveling he has done. While Simon was volunteering in Mongolia, he saw an ad to teach in China, so he moved to China and taught English for three years. He has also been to India and he wants to go to Iceland and Easter Island. Simon plays the classical guitar and also says, "I hate it when people don't listen to me and repeat back what I said."

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Name: Holly
Three words to describe yourself: creative, giving, strong

Holly is from Tallapoosa, Georgia and she is the owner of The Painted Butterfly, which is located in downtown Kennesaw, Georgia. http://thepaintedbutterflykennesaw.com/?pageID=679076 The building itself is the oldest building in Kennesaw and pre-dates the Civil War. She uses 100% recycled material for her artwork and comments, "I was making art out of trash before it was cool!" Holly also has a charity program called Paint it Forward, in which she works with foster kids and victims of domestic violence. She loves working with foster kids and says, "They are our tomorrow." Ever since she was little, Holly has know that she would become an artist, and she made her first sale, at the age of four, to her mother for 50 cents. "You should take whatever your talent is and pay it forward no matter what . . . If you pay it forward with kindness it comes back with a ripple effect," Holly says. If Holly could do anything in the world, she would like to meet Mother Theresa. She adds, "I'm living my bliss . . . the harder you work the more success you will have." Holly would still like to be able to paint at age 106. For her store, Holly takes paint donations and she also does custom artwork pieces, and if you live in Kennesaw, you should definitely stop by!

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Name: Kara
Three words to describe yourself: crazy, wild, "a-helluva-chef"'
Kara is from Hoschton, Georgia and after her parents got divorce, she moved to Marietta. She says, "I'm from the country!"
Currently, Kara is head chef at Trinity Creole Cafe in Kennesaw. I asked Kara what her favorite part about cooking was, and she replied, "I like making people happy through the food I cook." Kara became a chef by working her way up through the restaurant business at a tiny hole-in-the-wall restaurant. Lasagna is her favorite thing to eat. Eventually, Kara wants to have her own restaurant that would be named: D.T.S.C. which stands for "Don't Trust a Skinny Chef." Before she dies, Kara wants to have a body full of tattoos and she ends the interview by saying, "I cook awesome food and you should check it out."

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Name: Eva
Three words to describe yourself: Asian, sarcastic, awkward
Eva was born in Kennesaw, Georgia and her parents are from Taiwan. They originally moved to Hawaii "for new experiences," and then they moved to Georgia because her aunt lived there. The majority her family is still in Taiwan and Eva has been there seven times. Her favorite part of Taiwan  is the food and she adds, "Panda Express is just sad." In Kennesaw, her family owns Li's Asian Cuisine. Now she is a senior in high school and Eva is currently undecided about what to do after she graduates. She would like to go to Boston University, but will probably stay in Georgia for college. Her interests are in art and playing golf for the school. She says, "I want to continue being awesome . . . or at least try to be." When I interviewed her at the time, Eva was going to Fiji, Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii. She has been to South Korea and wants to go to Italy. She has a German Shepard and Pokemon addiction. If Eva could do anything in the world, she would "travel the world and donate to orphanages and feed the world," and also "I'd probably skydive everywhere if I had the guts." A random fact about Eva is that she can not swim or ride a bike.

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Name: Clyde
Three words to describe yourself: calm, musical, ecstatic
Clyde was born in Georgia, but grep up mostly in North Carolina. When Clyde was younger, his mother took him and his brother to India to get her master certificate in yoga. I asked Clyde what India is like and he replied, "India's beauty rally stands out . . . It's really used but really old." When his mom worked in Atlanta in the 80's, her boss became Clyde's godmother, so at the age of 14, he moved in with her in Atlanta. Between the ages of 10 and 14, Clyde said he got arrested twice for doing "a whole bunch of stupid stuff," so he wanted to move to Atlanta for a fresh start. Currently, Clyde is studying audio technical engineering at SAE Institute in Atlanta ans his is also the co-CEO of a production corporation called Fractal Universe. He wants to take his music around and Clyde says, "I wouldn't mind owning a studio later in life." The drums, guitar, bass, banjo, and the saxophone are among many of the instruments Clyde plays. He wants to go tour around the U.S. and would like to travel to Spain and Jamaica. I may or may not have this next bit correct,  but the motto for his company is "Come Get F'd U. P." (Fractal Universe Productions).

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Lane on the left with Miquia (a former classmate of mine)
This was taken at a class party in our English class in Fall 2010

Name: Lane
Three words to describe yourself: evolving, contemplative, questioning
Lane lived in Birmingham, Alabama until the age of 14 and then she moved to Little Siwickley, Pennslyvania, which is on the Ohio River and also had the highest alcoholism rate. "Every kid had a parent who was an alcoholic," Lane said. After a year, her dad wanted to get away, so they moved to the suburbs of Pittsburg. The year after that, her family moved to New Jersey where Lane graduated high school. Because she promised her grandmother that she would got to school in the south, Lane went to the University of Alabama. Lane said that Alabama "wasn't a very good academic experience," so she after her freshman year, she attended Upsala College in New Jersey to study English. "I wanted to read and talk about reading!" Lane said. After graduating from college, Lane tried to get a job in accounting, but at every job interview, she was told that she had to take a typing test. She then went to secretarial school and she says, "I was humiliated to the core that I had to do that to get a job as a secretary." After three years of working as a secretary, Lane had been accepted to NYU for graduate school, but she chose not to go because she was married in New Jersey and chose to have a child instead. She moved to Georgia because her husband got transferred and then they moved back to New Jersey. After Lane got divorced, she tried to get into magazine publishing, but she started working in the advertising department for a weekly newspaper. "I got into it thinking it would be a stepping stone for writing for the paper," she says, but Lane enjoyed the sales part more. "It was very creative," she comments. As a single mom with two boys, Lane moved back to the South where she worked for the Marietta Journal Constitution. She said, "I thought I was coming home to the same family owned type I had in Jersey, but I was met with the 'good ol' boy system'," so she had to "start over." After working for six months for the AJC, Lane took out all of her savings and went to Kennesaw State University to get her teaching certification. Now, Lane teaches high school English and says, "I learn so much from every group of kids I have . . . they always show me something I haven't seen before . . . they show me about human nature." Currently, Lane would like to become a grandmother and also says, "I'm excited to retire so I can reinvent myself . . . I also want to see if I have a book in me, but every English teacher says that." Lane also wants to travel back to Italy and to see Prague. Margaret Atwood is her favorite author and The Prince of Tides is one of her all time favorite books.