On July 28, 1991, my life began at Fulton Hospital. I was born to the parents of David and Cindy. They decided after a lot of thought to name me David L.S. Jr. after my father, but everyone came to call me D.J.

I grew up in the city of Stockbridge until about when I was five. In those five years, I learned how to swim, to play baseball, and how to talk. My funniest memory of that short five year period was when I accidentally drove my tricycle into our pool. Knowing not how to swim yet, my dad had to jump in and save the day. We then moved to the neighborhood Lakehaven were my family still resides today. The same year we relocated, I started my first year of school at Hickory Flat Elementary School as a kindergarten. I was a typical kid just like everyone else excited about my first couple years of school. I loved to play with toys, but I never was much of a sharer. As I journeyed through my elementary years, I kept an AB average and became a very good student. After ending my third grade year, I was transferred to a new school that had just been built called East Lake Elementary School. My favorite elementary school year ended up being forth grade. My teacher, Mrs. Franko, was a wacky person that always did fun activities throughout the year. We performed a Christmas play of Charlie Brown, dissected a sheep’s heart, flew kites, ate ice cream, and had an egg drop contest. It was a great year that will always be apart of my young memories.
After graduating the fifth grade, I took a big leap across the street to Union Grove Middle School. Middle school was different from elementary school, but I adjusted and became a star student. At the end of my sixth grade year, I received the social studies award from Mrs. Ponder and the physical education award from Ms. Kirkland. My favorite teacher of all time was my eighth grade Georgia Studies teacher Mr. Burr. He brought fun and interest to his class. Although he would lecture the whole period, everyone was always excited about what he had to say. We would ask random questions all period long and he would answer them to the best of his ability. At the awards ceremony for eighth graders, I received the social studies award from Mr. Burr. I was so proud of my self and thankful that he selected me over everyone one else on our team.
Graduating middle school was sad, but I moved on to the bigger picture, high school. I started out at Union Grove High School which was just next door to my middle school. My ninth grade year was the hardest year of school that I had ever had. I took three out of four honors classes. Mrs. St. Clair, my biology teacher, was insanely hard at the beginning of the year. I disliked her class more then any other, but I started to tolerate her in the second semester. Her class became more interesting when we got to things that I actually understood. We dissected numerous animals including a starfish, squid, frog, and even a fetal pig. Biology class somewhat got me ready for the next school year. At the awards ceremony that year, I was presented the ninth grade engineering award from Mrs. Peabody for having the highest grade in her class, perfect attendance, an academic letter, and an A honor roll certificate. After everything was said and done, the final grades were uploaded. Out of about six hundred ninth graders, I was ranked overall at fourteen. I was amazed at this, but it only made me strive to be better. Moving on to the tenth grade was an enormous step for me. I enrolled into my first college level class of world history. My teacher, Mrs. Lang, prepared me for the rigor that I would experience in my later year of high school and college. I successfully completed the course by scoring a perfect five on the AP exam. This achievement prepared me for my junior year in which I took three college level courses including chemistry, US history, and literature. Eleventh grade has proved to be difficult, but I strive to be the best that I can be everyday.
I have a great family that loves and cares for me and never stops thinking about my well being. My father, David L.S. Sr., works for Delta Airlines as a mechanic. He can fix just about anything. My dad loves his cars and just recently bought a 1968 Camaro which was one of his first cars as a young man. My mother, Cindy, is a nurse who most often works at Henry Medical Center. She is a mother who is determined to what ever she has to do to provide a good life for me. She runs the house with authority and does not let anything get out of control. Also, I have an older sister by fifteen months named Alexa. She is seventeen year old senior and has had a huge influence in my life. She played volleyball for our school Union Grove High and became one the elite player in the program. She and I have our troubles sometimes, but I will always love her. I love my family will all my heart and that will never change.
I have always been a person that is active and loves to play sports. The first sport that I started playing in a league was baseball when I was three years old. I played until I was fourteen and I decided that it did not excite me any more. In that period when I was playing, I only hit two home runs. The high light of my baseball career was when I threw a perfect game. I only through fifty-nine pitches in seven innings, and we won the game two to nothing. I started playing my favorite sport basketball when I was seven. I was not very good in my first couple years of playing because I was not very coordinated. As I got older, I also got taller which helped me improve my game. In middle school, I tried out for the seventh grade team and made it. I was not a starter, but as the season progressed, I improved my game. I tried out for the eighth grade team as well but to my disappointment, I did not make. That year I played recreation basketball and improved tremendously. When I got to the ninth grade, I tried out for the team and successfully made it. I was about six foot three inches tall that year and played an important role on offense and defense. At the basketball banquet at the end of the season, I received the most improved player award. Later that year, I joined an AAU team in which I further improved my skills. In practice, I performed my first slam dunk. I was so excited that I could do it now and could not wait for next year’s season. After having a solid basketball season and the Junior varsity team, I move up to varsity my junior year. I am now one of the better players on the team and am having significant contribution to the team. I also played seventh and eighth grade football for my middle school. I never did get to play, but I was happy that I was on the team. In eighth grade, I was hit by a talented football player who cracked one of my right ribs. After that, I decided that football was not for a skinny kid like me.
I have had many pets since the day I was born. My first pet was a cat named pepper. He lived to be about seven year old. He was a fat cat and never liked to be caught. Currently, I have three cats named Sunny, Domino, and Willow. Sunny is our newest cat. He is still a kitten and is very playful. Domino is a fat boy who just sleeps around all day but loves to get his belly scratched. Willow is a skinny girl who does not like to be held. I did have a black lab named Onyx that just recently died from a lightning strike. She lived to be about five years of age. She always loved to be taken on walks, but I did not take her out as much as I should have. She was the only dog I ever had and I will always love her.
On September 11, 2001, the United States of America was attacked. I was only in the fifth grade when it happened. I remember going to class just like any other day. We sat down and started doing work when our teacher, Mr. Niblett, told us what happened. Since we were the oldest grade in elementary school, the teachers allowed us to watch the news. Since I was in a trailer that year, our class had to listen to the radio. I remember a couple of days after that, patriotism was expressed throughout were I lived. Flags were flown on mail boxes and you would continuously learn new information about what happened and who was responsible. I do not know if I was ever scared, but it made me think that it could happen again. They could decide to attack Atlanta for what ever reason and that would have a tremendous impact on my life.
I have had many memorable experiences in my life. It is hard to say what my happiest moment was because I have had so many. I am actually most happy when I am hanging out with my friends. When were together, we just automatically start having fun. Sometimes, a bunch of us get together like Rob, Robert, Damian, Jimmy, Bradley, Madison, Christian, Yuji, Twinky, and Gaaron and just have a good time. Then we usually have a big spend the night at someone’s house and play poker, videos games, and watch movies all night. Other times, we would play sports all day like basketball, football, baseball, and soccer. Robert has been my friend for a long time and feels that I am “punctual and fun to be around.” Bradley, who has lived next door to me for ten year says that I am “fun to hang out with and is super mad with his basketball skills.” I hope we stay friends for years to come. Honestly, I cannot remember very many sad moments. My most recent sad experience was when my dog died. I do not cry very much, but when we started to bury her, I started to tear up. I was the one to lay the first pile of dirt on her and then I realized that she was gone. I loved and I could not believe that it happened. I think that my scariest moment ever was when I went to Fright Fest at Six Flags when I was very young. I remember going through the haunted house, and all I was doing was clinging to my mother as tight as I could. I had a chance to leave through an emergency exit door, but my parents made my sister and I finish the horror walk.
I have never been a huge music fan. I like certain kind of music like rock and some rap. I do not have a favorite musical artist or a song. The time when I was biggest into music was when N’Sync and the Backstreet Goys were huge. I do not have an I Pod like every one else in the school because I improvise. If I want music, I record it off the radio. Now that is what you call old school.
An adult that has had an impact on my life is Uncle Nip. He is not my uncle, but he is my good friend. I met him at St. George Island where we were staying. I learned that he was eighty-one years old, fought in World War Two, and grew up in the depression. I had tons of questions for him about his life. He told me about how life was difficult in the Great Depression. He also told me about his experiences in the war. He said that he was sent over seas in 1942 at age eighteen. He was part of the third armored division which fought in Germany. He also related his child years by saying that having not much food in the Great Depression prepared him for the same difficulties in World War Two. His stories make me even more thankful for what I have and that I did not have to go through what he did. He is more than just a friend, he is an inspiration.
After I get out of high school, I plan on going to college. The college I would like to go to is Georgia Tech because I want to become some kind of engineer. In fifteen years, I see my self possibly married with a family of my own. Hopefully, if everything goes as planned, I will become an engineer and be able to support my family very well. I really do not know where I would be living. I would rather live in the south because of the warm environment. I hope that what I am doing right now in high school with pay off in the future and help me get a strong foundation for my future.