Exploration Two Shelby Wade

Hello. My name is Shelby Wade. I am currently a sophomore at OSUM and I am studying business. My fun fact was that I have a caboose in my backyard. I have two dogs, Spot and Riley. I have worked at Cracker Barrel Old Country Store for three years. In my free time I enjoy painting, crafts, spending time with friends and family, and baking. I am also getting married next August, so a lot of my time has been going to planning our wedding.

Riley and I

Frederick Douglass was born in to slavery around 1818 in Maryland. Douglass was taught the alphabet by one of his master's wife, Sophia, even though teaching slaves to read and write was banned. Douglass's reading and writing skills greatly helped him throughout his life. Once Douglass became a free man he published his first autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, in 1845. Due to the fame his book brought, Douglass left the United States for several years.
http://www.biography.com/people/frederick-douglass-9278324#life-in-slavery

My favorite poem was "Bury Me in a Free Land" by Frances Harper. Just by reading this poem, one can feel how much hatred and sorrow Harper felt towards slavery. Harper expresses her emotions in a very strong way. This poem left me with the feeling of wanting to read more. I enjoyed reading her emotions. Harper made the poem come alive by all the descriptive words she chose to use.

A literacy event that greatly impacted my life recently was reading the obituary of a local member of our small town's Amvets Post 59. I have worked at this post since I was thirteen. I have come to know many of the members on a personal level. This man that passed away had Alzheimer's disease, so almost every Saturday afternoon, this man would come into the post and tell me the same stories multiply times. These stories were great even if I had already heard them a hundred times. His excitement he portrayed was amazing. This man became a friend of mine, but reading his obituary really opened my eyes to everything else this man had going on in his life. He had a huge family, many awards in the military, five children, and much, much more. Reading this made me appreciate all the times I sat down and listened to this elderly man's stories. When I could have easily let him sit there alone.