My Birthday Celebration Day 4

Happy Birthday to ME! Happy Birthday to ME! Smile


I woke up this morning wondering what I would write about. I'm writing this birthday series to give you insight in to what the factors are that shaped me into ME. So I decided to continue the trajectory I was on. I was fortune to attend the legendary Cass Technical High School in Detroit. Cass Tech was the public school answer to Cranbook Kingswood Academies in Bloomfield Hills Michigan. You had to have a 3.5 GPA and pass Cass's admission exam. No passing score NO ADMISSION. Cass was college prep before most people knew there was such schools. WE were a bunch of bright, quirky, intelligent kids.Cass was a huge school. Mine was the last class to graduation in January, everyone after us had June graduations. My class was 700 strong.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cass_Technical_High_School

http://youtu.be/QS4qKBOeKGc Demolition of old Cass Tech

A new school has since been built. I cried when I read that the old school was to be torn down.Each in coming class was lied to and told the school was an old pickle factory that was haunted. A new school has been built, but its not the same. Smile


I was a Clothing and Textiles major in the Home Economics Department. The living legend Dorothy Patnales was our department head. "Ms.Pat" never married or had kids. We were her kids and she guarded us accordingly.


I graduated from Cass and went to Highland Park Community College because I didn't know what I wanted to major in. I went one semester and didn't want to waste my Daddy's money so I went to work. I tested and was hired as an Aid to Dependent Child caseworker at 19. I was one of the youngest caseworkers in Michigan history. I won community service awards for helping people while I was there. I attended Wayne State University at night and slept through most of my classes. I worked there for two years and decided to go to back to school to be a lawyer. I had enough credits to enter Morris Brown College in Atlanta, Georgia as a sophomore.

 http://www.morrisbrown.edu/

I stated yesterday Atlanta was my Mother's home so I was able to move through certain circles college kids normally didn't have access to. I pledged Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority second semester of my sophomore year. I was attended to my sorority. I came off line and ran for student government president. I beat a third year male student on the second ballot. We tied on the first ballot. I beat him 3/1 in the runoff. (Thank you Daddy for making us do campaign work). I was the second female president in the school's history and the only junior to win a presidency in the Atlanta University Center's history. My first act of the school year was to call a strike and close the school down. (Thank you Daddy for teaching me to CYA) . You'll have to read the book to get the juicy details. I was asked to by one of my professors to run  for the congressional seat held by Cynthia McKinney. I asked who was going to fund it and was told they couldn't tell me. I called my daddy and ran it by him. His advice" If you can't find out whose going to supply the money leave it alone." Before the graduation ceremony our President's wife found me and remarked that "Her Husband would get a good night's sleep now that I was graduating." My response,"If he was doing his job he should sleep well every night".


I had received full rides to several law schools. I received the brochure from Texas Southern University and called the school to see if there was a printing error. The lady I spoke with assured me that the cost per credit hour was correct. ($24.00). She stated that oil revenues subsidized the cost of education. To Texas I went. My rationale was that no matter what happened with scholarships etc I could afford to pay my own tuition at that price. I worked through my collegiate career. In undergrad I tracked air freight shipments for a company called Profit by Air. I worked 36 hours from Friday to Monday. 12 on 12 off. Baby brother flew into help me drive to Texas.

At Texas Southern University Thurgood Marshall School I majored in international law and business. http://www.tsulaw.edu/. A very interesting 3 years. I took the bar exam twice my scores were 73 and 79. I scored higher than all but two people in my class. Smile


I practiced law for 4 years. I passed the bar in the biggest oil bust of that time. Jobs were scarce so I hung out my shingle. My practice was immigration, international, business and bankruptcy. Loved trial work hated dealing with the public. Smile

Friday and Saturday I will bring you up to-date. Sunday where I would like to go in the future. Check back I think you will find it interesting reading.


You can still use code "Birthday57" at checkout to receive 57% off until March 10, 2012. Click on shop to keep this party going. Smile


See you tomorrow


Michelle