Pharez Scruggs

Mrs. Thomas
UWRT 1103-035
5 October, 2015

I began writing this paper by writing down all of the books that I feel have impacted me
over the course of my life. My descriptions of the books may be slightly off, its been at least 2
years since the last time I have read any of these books, but the stories and lessons that I learned
stay with me regardless. This paper made me think of more than just the lessons that I have
learned from reading these books. It reminded me of the problems I dealt with while I read them.

I began writing my final draft by drinking five beers. The feedback that I received at my
conference was overwhelmingly positive, I was unsure about how this paper would be received,
but I am pleased with how it turned out. I was asked to go into more detail about the Soldiers
Creed, or my experience in the Army, as well the Green Lantern comics. I decided to go with the
Soldiers Creed, because I could write for days about my Army experience. I incorporated the
feedback received from Mrs. Thomas and Cali Powell, because they were really the only two to
provide any criticism. I also included some formatting changes and corrected some minor
grammatical errors. Im reciting most of these facts from memory, which surprises me, especially
considering the names of the schools that I went to when I was younger. I drank two more beers
during the process of writing and revising this draft.

Lessons Learned
I remember the moment that I learned how to read. I was five years old, sitting on the
floor in my kindergarten, and the words on the page were no longer black squiggles accompanied
by pictures. Suddenly, the words were the pictures. In that moment, my life changed. I
transformed from an illiterate crumb snatcher into a literate ankle biter.
Aside from crumb snatching and ankle biting, reading has been and is one of my most
defining characteristics. From ankle biter to old punk, my books have had a tremendous
influence on my character and my personality. Though the texts that I have read are legion, there
are a few that stand out as being more influential than the rest. Not listed in any particular order,
they are: The Land, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, the Green Lantern comics, the His Dark
Materials trilogy, The Princess Bride, The Ultimate Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, and the
Soldiers Creed. Each of these pieces has had a lasting, somewhat profound effect on my life, but
I will do my best to describe those effects in a few short sentences (just kidding, this paper has to
be four pages long).
Crumb Snatcher Ankle biter young punk older punk Adult
I shall provide a brief history on my physical journey before delving into my lifechanging lessons. I was born in Aurora, Illinois. I attended kindergarten through 5 th grade in
Indianapolis, Indiana. I went through first grade at Stephen Foster, IPS school #67 and second
through fifth grade at Key Learning Community, IPS school #616. I completed sixth and seventh
grade at Cochrane and Sedgefield Middle School (respectively) in Charlotte, North Carolina,
then I returned to Kokomo, Indiana (at one point held the largest KKK rally in America, bad

news for someone with my skin tone) for 8th grade at Lafayette Park Middle School. I returned to
Charlotte for high school and I have lived here ever since. A fact that many people can attest to is
that it is hard to make and keep friends when you move between states and schools often. From
first to twelfth grade, I attended seven different schools in two states. Im giving this background
so that you, the reader, can understand the rest of this paper/essay/narrative/story with a little
more context. Now, on to the meat and potatoes.
Puberty is a perilous phase. Pimples. Growth spurts. Zits. Girls arent gross. Acne. Mood
swings. FACE CRATERS. If you couldnt tell, I had a lot of things growing out of my face.
Oftentimes, to spare the world the sight of my greasy, pimply face, I would sit in my room and
read. Under the cover of night, in dead silence, a shadow could be seen darting daringly from its
domicile to the kitchen. Avoiding the glaring light of day. Back to my textual friends.
While hiding out in my hidey hole, my books taught me a few valuable lessons/
immutable truths: I am who I decide I am, love conquers all, and my will will determine my way.
In The Land, the main character, Paul, is a man whose mother was a slave and whose
father was a plantation owner. Pauls father also has a wife, and other legitimate children. Paul
grew up as a young punk believing that he and his fully white brothers were the same. That
perception is shattered when Paul is whipped by his father for punching his white brother. It was
at that moment that Paul realized that he wasnt the same as his brother, simply because their
mothers had different skin tones. Though Paul decides to call himself a black man, Paul realizes
that who he is is not determined by the color of his skin. Paul discovered that only he could
decide what kind of person he wanted to be.

The Land is where I learned that I am who I decide I am. As a young punk, the other
young punks would make fun of me because of the way I spoke and the way I carried myself. I
was told that I acted white. What does that mean? Back then, it meant that I didnt sag my pants
and spoke in complete sentences. So I was faced with a choice. I could change myself to fit the
expectations of my fellow punks, or I could be an outcast, sitting alone. You might ask which
option I chose. Try to pay attention, I already said that my friends were books. I could have
decided to change myself, but instead I chose to be the truest version of myself, and not the lie
that everyone wanted to believe.
Before I begin to explain the next lesson, I feel that a little background is needed on the
His Dark Materials trilogy. A few years ago, a book named The Golden Compass became a
popular movie and video game. While the first book is somewhat child friendly and light, the
next two books, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass, take a dark turn. Hence the name His
Dark Materials. In the end of The Amber Spyglass, Lyra and Will realize that they are in love
with each other and also understand that everything that they have done since they met each
other has been a result of their love. The series is chock full of love that lies dormant until it
bursts into flame and is subsequently snuffed out. A truly excellent trio of books, I would
recommend this series to anyone looking to have their emotions ripped to shreds, then pieced
back together. Back to the foreground.
The Princess Bride and the His Dark Materials series serve to define exactly what love
is. In The Princess Bride, Wesley and Buttercup discover that they are in love, but they are torn
asunder when Wesley goes to sea to make his fortune. Wesley is reported dead, and Buttercup is
forced to marry Prince Humperdinck. Trials and tribulations ensue, but in the end, the love that
Wesley and Buttercup share is enough to defeat Prince Humperdinck and his minions, and let the

heroes ride off into the sunset. Wesley and Buttercup arent the only people in this story whose
love knows no bounds.
Inigo Montoya is a master swordsman that is allied to Wesley in his attempt to rescue
Buttercup. In the beginning of the story, Inigo explains that his father was murdered by a man
with six fingers. Inigo spends his whole life studying swordplay and searching for the six
fingered man, so that he may exact his revenge on his fathers murderer. In the end, Inigo meets
the six fingered man, Count Rugen, and speaks this iconic phrase: Hello, my name is Inigo
Montoya. You killed my father, prepare to die. Tragically, Inigo is mortally wounded; but he
refuses to die. Inigos love for his father is so strong that he returns from the brink of death and
destroys Rugen in the name of his father. It could be argued that Inigo felt more compelled to
exact revenge for his own personal satisfaction than for love of his father. Before killing Count
Rugen, Inigo utters what may be the most memorable words in film history: I want my father
back, you son of a bitch. Hence, love conquers all. In His Dark Materials, Lyra and Will meet
as strangers, but fall in love without even realizing it. In the end, their love for each other gave
them the strength to accept that they could not be together. Their love gave them the strength to
sacrifice their relationship and forever live estranged from one another. In the end of both of
these masterworks, love conquers all who oppose it.
The last of the lessons that I learned as a young punk is that my will determines my way.
In the Green Lantern comics, a Green Lantern is a being who has been determined to have great
willpower. The dominant life-form on a planet with the greatest willpower is chosen to bear the
ring and protect his sector. Green lanterns are chosen by a self-aware planet that can sense beings
of great will. To be a Green Lantern, your will must be greater than everyone else on your planet,
and so great that a planet on another side of the universe can sense it. The being is given a ring

which allows the bearer to focus his willpower into constructs made of green light. A Lantern
can literally do and make anything as long as he has the strength of will to make it happen. If you
couldnt tell, I really want to be a Green Lantern. As a young punk who hid in his room, sneaking
out only for food and bathroom needs, I didnt get a lot of exercise. Subsequently, I was about
215 pounds when I was 15 and 59, most (if not all) of the weight was fat. I think that this is a
very cheesy story, but I read the Green Lantern comics, and I was struck with the realization that
I was the only thing holding me back from getting in better shape. I had to find the power inside
myself to get up and go running two to three times a week. The strength that I needed was inside
of myself all along.
Lastly, but most certainly not least, is the glue that binds these three lessons together. I
am no longer a young punk, I almost consider myself to be an adult. I learned those lessons
around the same age, but I may not have put them all into practice at the same time. The glue that
binds my three lessons together is the Soldiers Creed. The Soldiers Creed is a statement that all
soldiers must memorize when joining the Army. To me, the Soldiers Creed is a guide for how to
live honorably. If I can be myself, love, and use my willpower to fight any evil within my sight, I
think that living an honorable life will come naturally.
In summary, I learned three life lessons as a young punk: be true to yourself, love
conquers all, and will determines the way. As an older punk/ adult, those life lessons have proven
to be valid and unchanging. I live my life with honor by following the lessons I have learned
from my books, and by following the tenets of the Soldiers Creed.

The Soldiers Creed

I am an American soldier.
I am a warrior and a member of a team.
I serve the people of the United States and live the Army values.
I will always place the mission first.
I will never accept defeat.
I will never quit.
I will never leave a fallen comrade.
I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough.
Trained and proficient in my warrior tasks and drills.
I will always maintain my arms, my equipment and myself.
I am an expert and I am a professional.
I stand ready to deploy, engage, and destroy the
enemies of the United States of America in close combat.
I am a guardian of freedom and the American way of life.
I am an American Soldier.