I am new here, so allow me to introduce myself.
My name is Zachariah Atteberry. I am an 18 year old. I would first like to say that I am a writer, but I have problems talking as though I am talking to someone. I am a writer on both issues that trouble children and animals. I grew up around animal abuse and child abuse, and have a good idea of what good welfare consists of. When I was young, I was also in foster care with my mom while she had thyroid cancer. The oddest thing about it is, that I had a very small percentage of living due to the cancer she had. Foster families were really mean back then and only used the service for additional cash. At the time I was living with about 10+ children and the families got away with feeding bread and serving up water.
Throughout my life, I never had the opportunity to meet a lot of friends. During elementary years, I had a lot of people that beat me up daily due to me being how I am - quiet. When I hit middle school, I had a lot of confidence issues due to not having many friends. People still hated on me, and teachers took part also. My life was not very orderly either - I was out of foster care now and living with my mom in a rental house, but we had to move a lot due to the fact that my foster dad died when I first reached middle school.
High school was more or less the same. I never spoke once and walked with my hands to my side. I would find excuses not to attend lunch just so I didn't have to socialize with people .Teachers hated me and students were cruel. A lot of people took advantage of me by calling me names and insulting my beliefs on a lot of things that were animal related. I dropped out once in 10th grade with all F's. After a long summer I returned. Since I was a big cat lover, I told them that I would come back if they allowed me to volunteer at the humane society for credits - and they did.
So I volunteered there for two years. The volunteer time helped me cope with some of my confidence problems and I made a lot of feline friends. I started talking to people then and making friends. My grades with up to A's and my overall moral was boosted. I have found that having a relationship with animals really helps me in becoming active. I care enough about the welfare of animals that I couldn't take it anymore to be quiet. I still isolate myself and often don't talk in a lot of situations - but I do speak up when animals are in harm.
I work at the humane society now. And I get paid for socializing animals - mostly cats - since dog barking can get to me at times. Right now I am trying to be able to talk to other people more - it is very hard for me to do. I do believe that animals did help me though a lot of my troubles - without the volunteer opportunity I would have dropped out. I volunteered four hours out of the eight hours of school at the humane society.
Just the tip of the iceberg. I have been though a lot. Robberies, moving, abuse and bullying and I feel that because of that, I am able to write about a lot of it in a tone that helps other people cope with these problems - especially when being aspergic. I am happy to be here at Wrong Planet and hopefully I will fit in.
03 Jul 2011, 3:45 pm
Glad you're here!
