Shy but Mighty
Being shy is a hard obstacle to overcome in this society, but junior Haymaj Townsend always knows how to overcome it when it comes to sticking up for the right thing.
Townsend often takes care of her younger brother in her free time.
“There’s not much I like to do in my free time. I feel like I’m very shy and don’t like to socialize that much. What I do the most, though, is watch my little brother. He used to be such a good kid, but his attitude has changed so much and now he’s bad, which makes my job a lot harder. I remember one time he choked while eating some crackers and I had to start doing CPR. I was so scared because he wasn’t spitting it back out, so I ran upstairs to get my mom so that she could help me,” Townsend said.
School has always been a big influence in Townsend’s life.
“I would say I really like school. I take it seriously and make sure all of my work gets turned in on time. My favorite classes are English, Chemistry, and my child education class,” she said.
The things she learns in school are limitless.
“In my child education class, I was constantly learning about kids. One time, we got a special guest speaker who was a CPS worker. She told us all about the cases she’s worked on. She told us about a little boy who was being mistreated in a household and I feel like that story really resonated with me. It made me think about my little brother and how awful it would be if something like that were to happen to him,” Townsend said.
She has always tried to be the type of person that helps others.
“I’ve always wanted to help people and be able to be someone who stands up for mistreated people. Being a lawyer is something I’ve always wanted to do, but after hearing about all of the children in those CPS cases, I think being a social worker would be something I would love doing,” Townsend said.