Driven Class America
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness
by
Cory Ash
Copyright 2011 Cory Ash,
All rights reserved.
Published in eBook format by eBookIt.com
ISBN-13: 978-1-4566-0174-4
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
Dedication – To my wife, three boys, and baby girl.
Chapter 1 - At the Base of the Column
My family gathered from near and far in our house in Columbus, GA. They had all come to attend my high school graduation ceremony. They had always shown great love and support to my parents, the same way my parents had for them. I was proud of my family with all the flaws and beauties. I could not have picked a better one.
However, this day I felt a bit removed. It was June 6, 1998, I remember because it was my dad’s 38th birthday. I was 17 years old. Before going to the new civic center for my ceremony, I reflected on my journey so far. I thought about the places I had been and where I had come from. Four years earlier I was in Savannah, GA where my sister Shalonda died. Three years before I was living in Florida when my best childhood friend Mark died. Two and half years before I started smoking weed. Two years before I was in a car accident where I sustained a hair line fracture in my neck.
At 17 I was well aged. I had moved a total of eight times. I went to four different high schools in three years. All the while I adapted. It was expected, and it is what Department of Defense kids did. Besides resistance was pointless, it would only rift your family.
At any rate, I had arrived at graduation slightly damaged, never been incarcerated, no kids - one on the way, HIV negative, and not strung out on drugs. I thought that finally I would not be in tow to my dad’s military career. My family and I celebrated because we all knew in the fall I would leave the nest.
Chapter 2 - So I Left the Nest
Fall of 1998 arrived and I was in Atlanta, GA attending DeVry University for undergrad. I was studying Computer Information Systems. It was a three year program at the time the dot com bubble was inflating. The nation was witnessing the fastest creation of wealth ever seen, largely due to the use of the internet. All the people in my class were pumped. We would be done quick enough to dive into this new job market and capitalize on technology.
On the first day of class in orientation session the instructor told us, “count off 1 – 4.” And we did, each student numbering themselves 1, 2, 3, or 4. Then he said, “Look 1 out of 4 of you will finish. Some will cry, slack, quit, or simply not measure up. Which will you be?” He did not know what it took for me to get here, so obviously he was talking to the weaklings in the class.
Sitting in that classroom after going through all I had, Erica and I were expecting a son that December. I did not have myself together at the time, but I knew, just as I had on my graduation day that failure was not an option. My parents although not judgmental did not encourage abortion and would not tolerate a son, who was a derelict dad. Making a baby was irresponsible enough not actively raising him is another issue.
So I had to continue to beat the odds. I had to find a job and finish undergrad, otherwise I would be condemned to the statistics of never earning enough to provide for my new family. I worked for one semester, and then my first son was born December 14, 1998.
Now I worked Monday through Friday, went to class Monday through Friday, and drove an one ½ hour back to Columbus on the weekends to see my son. One semester passed, and then the next came and went. Finally, I was exhausted. My heart and head were in the right place but my priorities were screwed up. My marijuana habit began to bear on me.
During finals in that third semester instead of studying, I was smoking and clubbing with my friends. Like all my courses before I knew I could just cram and get it done. I thought I would "Forrest Gump" my way through it but that’s when I got shot in the butt. See I had anticipated studying, but I had overlooked completing the research paper. Fair enough I crammed then I began writing the research paper. I wrote and printed several copies until my printer ran out of ink. I though great now I have to drive 10 miles through construction zones and weekend traffic to Stone Mountain for ink.
Well, I had made the drive to Wal - ly World and found the right ink. Even so, not before I realized that I did not have my money to buy it. I made a terrible decision to steal; it was compounded when I got caught. I spent several hours in jail. I remember feeling like such a failure. I was not just a failure for getting caught, but I had now been marked by the system, finger prints, mug shot, and rap sheet, etc. We all know that young black men don’t beat wrap sheets regardless of the type of mistake. It was worse than a high interest credit card. The air was sucked out of my sails by my own hand and poor decision.
Now “the man” would have legitimate reason to be discriminate. So even if I managed to finish my degree, I could never get a good job; this would be my albatross. I hung my head in failure and shame that semester needless to say I did not pass any of my courses. I had given up and given in. I turned my focus to trying to raise my son and placed my education on simmer. I dropped out and moved back to Columbus.
Chapter 3 - Little Did I Know
While I was away trying my hand in college, my dad received orders to go to Germany. So off they went, my mother, father, and nephew TJ, who is my adopted brother. I still had a bit of money left in my trust fund so Erica and I found a place to raise our son Eric. Hah, that was simple enough; so I thought! The idea sounded better in my head.
We found a place it was a two bedroom town house. We worked at being a family. I found a job and enrolled at the community college. The technology boom was still raging on at this time. I think I had recovered my strength, focus, and ambition. I began taking more technology and programming classes. I had my groove back!
One Saturday as I searched the classifieds for a job to put these acquired skills to use, I had found it. It was an opportunity to enter a career development program for computer programmers at Total Systems, a Synovus company. This was great I could take the aptitude test, hopefully pass it, and let this company finish developing me into a career computer programmer. I signed up right away! My test schedule was mailed to my address. Email wasn’t widely used back then. It was 1999 and the Y2K bug was coming!
Erica and I opened the letter together and read it over twice. I had been scheduled to take the aptitude test on a Wednesday. Only those who passed would be interviewed further. I was advised on the day of test that my initial test results looked promising. A drug test was scheduled for Friday. Easy enough I had been weed free now for longer than 30 days. Friday I took the test and life continued as usual. Two weeks passed before I knew the outcome. However, it finally came, the phone call. The lady on the other end said that I had scored the highest that they had seen on this aptitude test. I had heard this before you’re a smart kid….yadda yadda yadda. Being smart isn’t paying the bills though. I thought yeah lady tell me what’s the next step!
We scheduled an interview time for the next Tuesday. The big day came. I went to the appointment in this beautiful glass cathedral campus with long hallways and sterile corporate furniture. The interviewer never came out. I was confounded three days later a letter arrived in the mail. It said that I had a moral turpitude problem and according to GA state law they would pass on hiring me. This was garbage, how could they judge me when they did not know me? I paid my restitution, did my community service, and completed my probation. Now it seemed the law prevented me from getting