Abstract

            My life could have been an average life lived by an average man raised in an average setting, but that isn’t anything like what my life is.  My life is a series of events that are not extreme but are definitely not average either.  I was a happy healthy child born in Knox Indiana.  The happy things didn’t always last and the healthy is now an issue.  I have lost two grandparents, three great grandparents, and my mom and dad are now just another divorce statistic.  Happy things do happen and I am an upbeat person who hates to get down on things.  My health is another issue, I am hypertensive and have a slightly swollen heart muscle.  I don’t let either thing worry me it’s under control and I choose not to think about it.  I’m that person everyone talks about that just rolls with the punches and I keep a smile on my face while just rolling along.

            A boy in a room with only girls, no it’s not the start of a joke but my life.  I was born in Starke Memorial Hospital on June 7, 1989.  I was the only boy in a room of girls because on that particular day in the hospital I was the only bouncing baby boy to be born.  I was born to Joseph and Gail Stepp of Winamac Indiana.  Two wonderful days later Andrew Joseph Step, that me, arrived in Winamac to begin his life that has brought him here. 

            I grew up in for the most part in Winamac.  As I grew up additions were added to my family, when I was 2 I got twin sisters on Valentines day, and when I was 4 I got a baby brother.  With four kids in the house we moved quite  bit just trying to find room for all of us.  I did not grow up in the lap of luxury, my dad is a factory worker and my mom worked in a factory, than an Arby’s, and finally she is working as a department manager in the ALCO in Winamac.  Finally, came a day that I was long a waiting, when I was seven, the day I started kindergarten at Eastern Pulaski Community School Corporation.  My teacher was Mrs. Mathis, I remember this because she was so nice and caring and her husband was the one that married my parents.  My elementary school went much like all other children’s until 5^th grade.  In 5^th grade three major events happened to me that changed my life.  It was 2000 and in that fall my best friend past away in the fall.  No, it was not some one my own age but my Grandpa Garbison.  He always watched shows with me and for the first five years of my life I spent more time with him than my mom or dad.  When he died I felt so empty inside he never got to see me accomplish any of the athletic feats.  The next major event was I got to play basketball for the school for the first time ever.  It was amazing and after that I always played sports for Winamac.  Finally, my teacher called me just another dumb jock that was going to end up at the local factory making nothing of my life.  After that I adapted a new feeling towards school, hated it.  I took until last year, my senior year, for my hate of school to go away.  My teachers made school fun and finally got me to realize that one bad paper wasn’t going to put me down a career path that I didn’t want to be on.  The most reliving moment in my life was walking across the stage on May 24, 2008, getting my core 40 diploma and being ready to face new challenges. 

            Now I am going to tell about some of the down parts of my life that makes me, me.  The main biggest disappointment in my life now is my parents.  Not them individually but the fact they couldn’t make their marriage work after 19 years.  They divorced two weeks before my 19^th birthday, on the same day I got the exciting news that I was going to have a good paying summer job in the same factory that my dad works in.  It hurt when they said it but what was worse is that fact that I felt I had to take on the responsibility of helping my younger sisters and brother get through it.  It is still tough on me and them but I try not to show it so I remain the strong one for my brother and sister to be able to talk to.  This year also came the struggle of my Grandma Garbison passing away.  This hurt bad, she was my biggest fan in everything I did and when she would make it to any of my sporting events she would make sure to keep my stats for me.  It was hard for me, my mom and dad were already falling apart and he seemed distant from everything when we needed him and it was my mom’s mom that had passed away.  I put myself in the position of having to help my sisters but mostly my brother who really needed someone to talk to and help him through it.  I put my feelings aside to help him and just acted like I was doing fine with it.  It was just hard because she died just a month before I graduated and before I could get to college to show her what I could really do.  Those things are really the only things in my life that I can categorize as struggles and disappointments. 

            Now, on a lighter note in my life the happy things that deal with me.  The Victories have been few and far between, but when they happen that are big.  Some minor victories were me making JV basketball as a freshman.  Football is my love so being able to start this year and being able to win first round of sectionals against the defending champions was a huge victory for me this year.  Also another sports related victory was me making it to the regional in shot put this year.  My biggest victory this year involves what I’m doing right now, getting accepted to Manchester College.  Manchester was my first choice and looking back at on it Manchester was my only real choice.  It offers a small town feel with a big time institutions academic excellence.  I choose Manchester because it is close to home, but more importantly because academics are a top priority here.  I did not want to go to a big school where its party first and hope to pass later, I like the devotion the professors give to the kids to make sure they are grasping everything.  This college’s faculty help me see what kind of teacher I want to be and how I want to impact the life a child some day.  Finally, and its also another reason for going here, is that the person that makes me happier than anything else and is always there for me goes here to.  Haley VanMeter is my girlfriend and is also my best friend, her being here is helping me not do the things that are not allowed and she keeps me on the straight and narrow. 

            So, you wanted to hear and autobiography about yours truly, well there you have it.  My life is one of heartaches, literally and figuratively, and triumphs.  I can’t wait to graduate in 2012 from Manchester College with my bachelors degree and the feeling of accomplishment that I know this institution can offer me.  Thank you for reading and I will be seeing you soon.