The Influences On Bill Strickland's Life

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Bill Strickland spends his days helping people through Manchester Bidwell. He founded job training programs and also a community arts program to help and mentor young people. When Bill Strickland was younger he did not have the tools and everything he gives to the kids now for mentoring. Strickland’s life changed when he found pottery. It was something he was good at from the start. Bill grew up in Pittsburgh, and it was not the prettiest. People were losing their jobs and the town was falling apart. Strickland’s mother shaped him to be a successful man. She did not let him “fall into the ghettos trapdoor”. (ADD QUOTE) Strickland spends his life trying to fix the substandard neighborhood that he grew up in. Everything Bill Strickland has done …show more content…

You let the ghetto drag you in, you may join a gang or start to sell drugs. When Strickland met Frank Ross and started doing pottery, he did not let the ghetto get to him. He became a better man, he helped many people that were in need. Playing sports and joining clubs in school helped me focus on what is important in life, like finishing school and graduating. Like Strickland started his pottery, that is how I was with soccer. I did not let people around me influence me because I knew what mattered the most in life. Unlike the people that surrounded Strickland when he was younger, he treated every one he met with respect and he did not care who you were he would try and help you out. As I mentioned before that is how Mr. Delbridge was with me and my fellow classmates. Bill Strickland’s first semester of college was not the easiest, he was surrounded by mostly white students that grew up in balanced neighborhoods. When Strickland first started college he really struggled at first. He did not gain the right skills to obtain a lot of information at once while he was still in high school, because it was not the best school. Strickland tried his best to learn and pay attention by writing everything down, but as some teachers move to fast some of his work looked like scribbles. While Strickland tried to study and go over his notes, it just confused him even more. At this point, he did not …show more content…

I always heard that college would be tough, but I went in to college with a set mind that I was going to finish strong and at the end be successful. I kept my head focused and always made sure to get my work done no matter how hard it was. Improvisational jazz is always changing, it is creating something new and also taking risks without being afraid. I believe that taking risks in life is a good thing and can help you be more successful. Sometimes when you take a risk it does not work out, but that does not mean you should quit or never take a risk again. When I see something that can make me more successful, I go for it. I am not afraid of taking risks. Strickland claims you should never let your goals become your tyrant because it will turn you into a runner and in a predetermined course which the finish line will immovable. I do not believe this is true, he is saying that sometimes you are not able to complete goals. But when you are setting a goal, do not push something that is impossible. If you know you may not be able to finish it, maybe set something more realistic that could be somewhat

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