The*Empress
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I saw on Dr. Phil, about a girl who beat the ODD. I know some people go to the positive direction and other people go to the negative direction, for example, my cousin Michael had a drug addict mother and an alcoholic father
and was in school involving with many gang members... and now he got out of high school, joined the Army and was discharged and then worked at Red Lobster resturant and quit that, and went to Louisiana to rob someone, and now he is in prison....
So but anyway, this girl on Dr. Phil beat the odd, read below.
"My father was addicted to drugs. When he was off the drugs he became violent with my mother, screaming at my sister and I, causing us at times to even have to pack up to leave the house. He would loom over the three of us with rage," explains 18-year-old Melissa, who was also living with an alcoholic mother. "My mother would be laying in bed crying, and I'd have to go over to her, hug her and tell her that it's OK, that we're going to make it through it. I had to step up and mother her."
Melissa's father eventually ended up living on the street with no job and nowhere to go. "I felt that I had been the cause of a lot of the problems with my family," she says through tears. "I felt that I had failed, like I hadn't kept us together the way I had wanted."
School was an escape for Melissa. "I didn't have to deal with anything that was happening at home," she explains. "I could just forget about it." She kept her home life a secret from friends and teachers for fear they would judge her.
Even Melissa's teacher, Grace Rhew-Kim, who describes her as "driven, determined and a perfectionist," was surprised to learn what Melissa was going through at home. "I naturally assumed that things were OK, that she came from a model home," Grace says.
Melissa turns to Dr. Phil for help: "I am afraid that when people find out who I really am, they're not going to like me. Is there a way I can be who I am without being rejected?"
"Where do you find the strength to say, 'Somebody has got to lead this situation. Come on, let's go'?" Dr. Phil asks Melissa.
"I just knew somehow we had to do something. I knew we couldn't stay there so I just took that role. It just seemed natural to me," she says.
"We all want to know what you're feeling inside when you say, 'This is not an excuse to not succeed and keep moving forward,'" Dr. Phil asks her.
"I know that I want to have my own happy life. I want to obtain a good job and I want to have a good life," she replies. "I knew that the way I was living wasn't what I wanted."
"Do you feel like you missed childhood?" Dr. Phil asks.
"I missed the going out with my friends or inviting friends over to my house. I never did that," Melissa tells Dr. Phil.
"What did you fear they would think about you if they knew that your father was a homeless drug addict, that your mother was an alcoholic, that you lived with violence every day?" Dr. Phil continues.
"I thought they wouldn't want to be around me. That they felt like it would rub off on them," Melissa explains.
"I'm a strong believer that a bad history, a tough history, is not something to be ashamed of, but it is something to overcome," Dr. Phil tells Melissa. "You didn't choose for your father to do what he did, for your mother to do what she did. You didn't choose that lifestyle. But you can make a choice now, and what I fear is that the voice in your head is judging yourself as being second class." He explains that young people often compare their own reality with what other kids are pretending to be. "The person that you really need acceptance from is not the friends you're hiding from, but from Melissa," he says, asking her to look around at the audience and find one person that is judging her.
A young woman in the audience shares her thoughts. "I think [Melissa's] gorgeous. I think she's amazing, and honestly, I'm jealous," she says, and the audience applauds.
Dr. Phil asks Melissa if she is surprised to hear that, and Melissa says she is. "Do you think, maybe, you could take some of those things you're feeling from some of us, and maybe internalize those and stop that internal dialogue about what you're saying about yourself?" he asks her.
"Yes," Melissa agrees.
Marian Wright Edelman, one of Dr. Phil's heroes and the founder of the Children's Defense Fund, sent a special message for Melissa.
"I am delighted that we are joining forces to celebrate young people that are beating the odds," she says to Dr. Phil, and introduces two women who have done just that. They are now giving back to their communities as teachers in public schools." She notes that Melissa is a remarkable young woman. "We're proud of her and we're proud of the dozens of young people we have honored and thousands more like them who, with your help, will be able to succeed. Go Melissa!"
Dr. Phil tells Melissa that he has more surprises for her. Noting that Melissa is going to attend UC Berkeley in the fall.
Melissa, who loves basketball and was co-captain of her high school team,
Board member Danny Moore says to Melissa, "Young people like you are to be admired and your courage is outstanding. The Beat the Odds program is for people like you and will give the opportunity to others to 'beat the odds' as you have."
Dr. Phil addresses Melissa. "I really am so proud of you," he tells her. "It's really important to me that you accept yourself and you go on to do some great things. And I hope some of the things we've done for you today and that Beat the Odds® has done for you so far, can make a difference and I know it will."
and was in school involving with many gang members... and now he got out of high school, joined the Army and was discharged and then worked at Red Lobster resturant and quit that, and went to Louisiana to rob someone, and now he is in prison....
So but anyway, this girl on Dr. Phil beat the odd, read below.
"My father was addicted to drugs. When he was off the drugs he became violent with my mother, screaming at my sister and I, causing us at times to even have to pack up to leave the house. He would loom over the three of us with rage," explains 18-year-old Melissa, who was also living with an alcoholic mother. "My mother would be laying in bed crying, and I'd have to go over to her, hug her and tell her that it's OK, that we're going to make it through it. I had to step up and mother her."
Melissa's father eventually ended up living on the street with no job and nowhere to go. "I felt that I had been the cause of a lot of the problems with my family," she says through tears. "I felt that I had failed, like I hadn't kept us together the way I had wanted."
School was an escape for Melissa. "I didn't have to deal with anything that was happening at home," she explains. "I could just forget about it." She kept her home life a secret from friends and teachers for fear they would judge her.
Even Melissa's teacher, Grace Rhew-Kim, who describes her as "driven, determined and a perfectionist," was surprised to learn what Melissa was going through at home. "I naturally assumed that things were OK, that she came from a model home," Grace says.
Melissa turns to Dr. Phil for help: "I am afraid that when people find out who I really am, they're not going to like me. Is there a way I can be who I am without being rejected?"
"Where do you find the strength to say, 'Somebody has got to lead this situation. Come on, let's go'?" Dr. Phil asks Melissa.
"I just knew somehow we had to do something. I knew we couldn't stay there so I just took that role. It just seemed natural to me," she says.
"We all want to know what you're feeling inside when you say, 'This is not an excuse to not succeed and keep moving forward,'" Dr. Phil asks her.
"I know that I want to have my own happy life. I want to obtain a good job and I want to have a good life," she replies. "I knew that the way I was living wasn't what I wanted."
"Do you feel like you missed childhood?" Dr. Phil asks.
"I missed the going out with my friends or inviting friends over to my house. I never did that," Melissa tells Dr. Phil.
"What did you fear they would think about you if they knew that your father was a homeless drug addict, that your mother was an alcoholic, that you lived with violence every day?" Dr. Phil continues.
"I thought they wouldn't want to be around me. That they felt like it would rub off on them," Melissa explains.
"I'm a strong believer that a bad history, a tough history, is not something to be ashamed of, but it is something to overcome," Dr. Phil tells Melissa. "You didn't choose for your father to do what he did, for your mother to do what she did. You didn't choose that lifestyle. But you can make a choice now, and what I fear is that the voice in your head is judging yourself as being second class." He explains that young people often compare their own reality with what other kids are pretending to be. "The person that you really need acceptance from is not the friends you're hiding from, but from Melissa," he says, asking her to look around at the audience and find one person that is judging her.
A young woman in the audience shares her thoughts. "I think [Melissa's] gorgeous. I think she's amazing, and honestly, I'm jealous," she says, and the audience applauds.
Dr. Phil asks Melissa if she is surprised to hear that, and Melissa says she is. "Do you think, maybe, you could take some of those things you're feeling from some of us, and maybe internalize those and stop that internal dialogue about what you're saying about yourself?" he asks her.
"Yes," Melissa agrees.
Marian Wright Edelman, one of Dr. Phil's heroes and the founder of the Children's Defense Fund, sent a special message for Melissa.
"I am delighted that we are joining forces to celebrate young people that are beating the odds," she says to Dr. Phil, and introduces two women who have done just that. They are now giving back to their communities as teachers in public schools." She notes that Melissa is a remarkable young woman. "We're proud of her and we're proud of the dozens of young people we have honored and thousands more like them who, with your help, will be able to succeed. Go Melissa!"
Dr. Phil tells Melissa that he has more surprises for her. Noting that Melissa is going to attend UC Berkeley in the fall.
Melissa, who loves basketball and was co-captain of her high school team,
Board member Danny Moore says to Melissa, "Young people like you are to be admired and your courage is outstanding. The Beat the Odds program is for people like you and will give the opportunity to others to 'beat the odds' as you have."
Dr. Phil addresses Melissa. "I really am so proud of you," he tells her. "It's really important to me that you accept yourself and you go on to do some great things. And I hope some of the things we've done for you today and that Beat the Odds® has done for you so far, can make a difference and I know it will."
What a wonderful success story this turned out to be for Melissa. There was so much sadness in her life, and never had the childhood she deserved to have. She had the common sense to go to the right person, Dr. Phil, and let everything out of her system. With that help, she is able to turn her life around. A story with a happy ending. 