Mary Sutter project Section B- Quote

Mary Sutter project Section D- The Heroic Cycle

Rebecca Donahue

Heroine’s Journey

Mrs. Gillis  

December 15^th, 2015

Section D –  The Heroic Cycle

The Journey

                I think I am at the beginning of my journey.  The season has just started.  There is so much time for me to catch up, but only if I keep working as hard as I was before I got hurt.  I think two journeys are overlapping for me right now.  The first is the end of my injury journey which is finally coming to an end because I am getting better and stronger every day and the second one which is my trip back up to the top where I was before I got hurt.  I think if I never got hurt I would not have been working so hard because watching my friends play something that I love and doing for a long time it starts to make me antsy.   Also knowing that my coach does not think you are ready to finally come back is very frustrating.  I have been preparing for this moment for a long time and waiting for it to come as patiently as I can.  My main goal is to first get back to the way I was.  The strong second goal is to prove my coach wrong, finally showing him that he can depend on me when I am needed for an important game instead of him looking to someone else.  It is my time to rise above and just do what I do best.  Play basketball. 

 

Mary Sutter project Section C- Collage Response

Rebecca Donahue

Heroine’s Journey

Mrs. Gillis  

December 15^th, 2015

Section C

Collage Explanation

            I made a collage for this part of the project.  In the top left corner and the top middle I have two picture of a midwife because May was a midwife before she became a doctor.  Directly below that picture in the left hand corner I have a picture of a family tree because Mary comes from a long line of midwives.   On the bottom middle I have a picture of soldiers in war because Mary had to choose between life and death for some soldiers.  On the right hand bottom corner there is a picture of a woman tending to some wounded soldiers because Mary would try to calm and console the soldiers during and after their surgeries to calm their nerves.  In the top right corner I have a picture of a civil war charwoman because that was what Mary was before she became a surgeon.  On the right hand side in the middle is a picture of an amputation kit.  I put this because once Mary was experienced enough to do amputations by herself and she was performing them so often that she could amputate a limb in five minutes.  In the middle of all the other pictures I have a picture of a link chain under a magnifying glass.  I used this photo because after Mary’s father’s death she was strong and seemed invincible but after Jenny’s death she became vulnerable and started letting people in to help her.  Connecting all the pictures is a splurge of blood because of all the people the she has personally lost and for all the soldiers that she could not save. 

Mary Sutter project Section A - Life lesson

           

Rebecca Donahue

Heroine’s Journey

Mrs. Gillis

December 15, 2015

Section A- Life lesson

The Main Goal

            Mary Sutter was a remarkable person, doing things that many people could not do.  She made life or death choices for soldiers.  Mary was a midwife who wanted to become a doctor, which was not something that women would dare to do, but Mary went against the odds and proved to all those who had doubted her abilities that she could.  Mary defying the odds has inspired me to continue to work hard and reach for something that was taken from me.  My spot on the girls Varsity Basketball team. 

            I am not someone who is well polished yet.  I am a little rough around the edges still, and I think Mary was at first as well.  Not meant in a bad way, honestly I kind of like it, it makes people like us something special.  Not being polished is like getting a diamond right from the source before it has gone to the factories to be changed into something beautiful, its raw, unchanged by its surrounding so far.  My meaning by this is that in the beginning of the novel Mary was determined to become a doctor.  She had a little experience with it, being a midwife, which sparked her interest to learn more about the human body.  After being rejected by the college Mary still had the perseverance to become a doctor even though her own mother did not truly support her.  Not always having someone to fall back on made Mary as strong as she was because there was no safety net for her, she was all in.  That is why I aspire to have as much perseverance and drive as Mary does because with that much drive and determination she could accomplish anything and I want to get back to my full strength.  I will not do that if I do not keep my eye on the prize as Mary did. My perseverance started when I was first coming back from my foot injury.  When I initially got hurt I thought that I would not be able to play basketball in my senior year, which was heart breaking.  The boot the doctors gave me felt like a golden ticket for a reserved seat next to my coaches for the season.  But then the doctors said that I could try physical therapy.  This to me was the tiny light at the end of the long dark tunnel that I have been searching so long for.  At first I thought I was getting nowhere, not being able to do anything and getting mad at myself because I could not do simple tasks that I could normally do like walk my stairs to get to my room.  I had to crawl up them.  But as I kept going to physical therapy my foot muscles and tendons were getting stronger, but not as fast as I wanted because the start of the season was quickly approaching.  I had to stop thinking about the beginning of the season and think of it as a whole. Thinking this kept my eyes on the prize, being able to play again.  I have been and am continuing to work hard to get back to my full strength and now that my eyes are on the prize I will not stop till I am better than before I got injured.  I did not lose my spot on the team but I lost much of what I have accomplished.  Being hurt has set me back a lot. But, now I am not going to let anything get in the way of me getting the playing minuets that I have earned and worked so hard for from last year and over the summer back.  Now I have to work even harder, but I think that I am up to the challenge as Mary was. 

            Reading My Name is Mary Sutter showed me that people will stand in your way of what you truly want.   There will be obstacles that I need to overcome to get to where I want to be and hopefully there will be people to help me when I get there,  but if not I will only become that much stronger from it.  Mary Sutter taught me to have perseverance even when you cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel, and if u believe and have the right mind set to get there that eventually I will get there. 

           

The Liberation response

The Realization

Being the new kid is terrifying

Unfamiliar faces everywhere

Unable to turn to people

Feeling alone

But

Smiling faces don’t seem so bad

Sheepishly talking

Who am I trying to fool?

That’s not me

Outgoing

Adventurous

Loud  

That’s me and I’m sticking to me!

 

 

 

 



some smiling faces I've met along the way

Poem about family

The Makeshift Family

We have a chant

I start us off

FAMILY ON 3

1…2…3…   FAMILY!!

I chose some of my family

My best friends

Are parts of my big family

I trust them

Bonding over practices and weekend tournaments

Every time I start it off I truly mean what I’m yelling

We truly are a family

this is my family too 

Scary nights

         It was mid October night. She was walking down Salem Street at 11:30 p.m.  There was this navy blue pick up truck that passed by.  Not just once because she had seen it earlier that night.  She was less than a mile for her house, now walk a little faster than before but not jogging.  Then the truck passed by again, this time now she started to jog because she was getting freaked out about why this truck kept passing by repeatedly.    Now she was down the street from her hose and the truck came back again and it stopped next to her.  A man jumped out and scared her.  she screamed as loud as she could when he took off his mask she realized what day it was. It was October 30th, Halloween night. The person in the truck was her best friend who couldn't get in touch with her because her phone died.  After all the terror she experienced it went away because she was in the comfort of her best friend.

Resilient Jane

 

"You have no business to take our books;  you are a dependent mama says;  you have no money;  your father left you none;  you ought to beg, and not live here with gentlemen's children like us."  ( pg. 17 chapter 1)

I chose this quote to go along with my picture because ever since Jane was a little girl she has been put down by people.  But because she is so strong willed and determined to get what she wants, she 'takes the punches' and learns from them to get what she wants.  In my picture I drew a flower that has gone through rough weather but in the end, ends up stronger and more lively than before and that is what happens to Jane through out her journey of the book.

 

response to jane vol.3 ch 2-6

Jane compares herself to a stray dog when she talks to St. John.  Jane hasn't done this before and it shocked me.  It shocked me because even though she was brought up with money she didn't own any but she didn't really consider herself poor until now.  When she lived with her aunt she hated even the thought of being poor.  But now that Jane is older she has realized that there is some grace in being poor.  Being poor doesn't always mean that you don't have manners and that you are not educated.  It might show that you have gone through a rough patch as Jane has.  Jane is a strong willed person and she is very prideful as well.  Going through this isn't easy on her, but in the end I believe that it will make her a much stronger person. 

Places I call home

            My definition of home isn't like most.  Mine is where determination, hard work and the smell of sweat meet.  You might be thinking I'm crazy right about now but, I can assure you that I'm not.  These three things meet at my work.  I work at Evolution Basketball.  Every day I get to see kids from all different towns near and far.  Most come in smiling ready for practice or a private lesson.  Then there are the “Debbie downers” who come in not as happy because either their parents made them or they just didn’t want to come.  Not many “Debbie downers” come through the door though because Evo is such an amazing place. 

The coaches for one are always happy. I would know because I am one.  I love what I do; teaching younger kids how to hold a basketball in triple threat position or how to shoot properly.   Evo is where hard work meets fun.  The kids love to scrimmage and play games against each other.  That’s where the smell of sweat comes in.  Even though the kids are playing games most of the time they have a purpose to them.  A scrimmage teaches the kids how to square up to the basket and attack if it’s open or to cut into open space on the floor.  Even though they are working hard they are having fun while doing it. 

At Evo we have a little chant that we yell before we split into groups for skills and drills or before a game.  “Family on Three 1…2…3…  Family!”  This chant perfectly represents Evo.  We are all one big basketball playing family.  We post Instagram pictures together, tweet about our victories, and our “family” events.  Evo is where kids from other towns are welcomed with open arms to play basketball together.

I am a coach but I’m also a player.  I started playing for Evo in the fall of my sophomore year.  I was kind of hesitant to start.  But I was welcomed and treated as one who has been there for years.  It is an amazing experience.  Not only do you get to play basketball but you get to meet all these amazing people from surrounding towns and become friends with them. 

Thinking back I wish I would have started Evo earlier.  This is my final season and I’m the captain of my team.  Girls have joined and left but most of us have known each other for a while.  That’s what makes a team, a team.  Knowing each other’s strengths and weaknesses and playing to the strength during a game.  Playing with new people is hard because you don’t know how they play.  Being part of a team you learn a lot about each other. And that’s what I love about Evo you are family and family helps each other after a tough loss or even if you had a bad day, because those teammates and coaches turn into friends who care about you.

That is why Evo is my home.  I look forward to going into “work” every day after school and helping someone get what I got out of this outstanding program.