David Harkins:
CLASS OF 1969
Lyman High SchoolClass of 1969
Longwood, FL
King High SchoolClass of 1969
Tampa, FL
Baden-Economy Junior High SchoolClass of 1962
Baden, PA
Phillips Street Elementary SchoolClass of 1962
Baden, PA
Chippewa Consolidated Elementary SchoolClass of 1962
Beaver falls, PA
David's Story
Life
Well, it's time for a change again. I am moving to Tennessee to live with my son, Daniel, who is in the National Gurard and presently at boot camp and to be near my daughter, Dana, who is now a true teen - 13!
I as usually have been going through many changes. I quit my job at Northside Menatal Health last May and then spent time working for NAMI Hillsborough and NAMI FL and StoryTelling. For the last 6 months I have been working for mhc (Mental Health Care) in Plant City, FL. What better prepartion to move to White county, TN.
I love to fly to Nashville and New Orleans and sometimes to Birmingham and drive to Sparta, TN from either Nashville or Birmingham to see my kids. New Orleans is special to me because that is where my step family lives.
I hope to be at the reunion if I am still in Tampa and have not already left for TN.
Life is up and down when you have Bipolar Disorder, but I have made many friends because of this.
Well, it's 3 months since I updated my bio. I am now a Customer Care Rep at SunTrust Banks call center in Cookeville, TN.
Dana visits often. Daniel is busy with school, Guard Duty and his first job cook and counter at Krystal Hamburgers.
I just got back from a trip to New Orleans. I participated in the African American Storytellers Convention by invitation. I had a great time. Now I am settling in for the winter here in Sparta.
More later
Life goes on!
David Stanley Shark Harkins
dsh
School
I started first grade when I was 5 years old. I graduated from Florida College in 1971 with an AA degree. I have been going to college on and off more or less all the rest of my life. I still do not have my BA degree. Hats off to all of you who earned a BA or higher.
College
As some of you know, I have been going to College off and on for 33 and 1/3 years and I will graduate (hopefully) next Spring with a BA in Interdisciplinary Social Sciences and Teacher's Cert in Social Sciences.
I started this long drawn affair innocently enough by enrolling at Florida College in the Fall of 1969 after graduating from King High School here in Tampa.
Back to FC. FC was at the time a private Jr College run by members of the "Conservative" Church of Christ of which I was a member. We had to take a Bible class everday and assemble in Chapel for singing, prayers and short talks and skits by the Student Organzaitons etc.
I held up my academic tradition and prowess from being in the top 10% of my High School and being in NHS and Beta Club (from Lyman, my sophomore year) by staying on the Honor Roll at FC, even while being the Head Athletic Team Manager for the Varsity Basketball Team and running intramurals at "MY" Gym.
Then it was on to FTU in the fall of '71 I was in Kiddie Lit, Kiddie Art, Kiddie thi...Expand for more
s and Kiddie that. I had a mini manic episode and stayed in the library from dawn to midnight "rewriting" the Bible, especially the Creation Story, to prove in my mind that all those bigots at FC were a bunch of hypocrites. I came down a few days later and wondered what the heck came into me and started back to classes, but it was too late. As is usually the case what goes up must come down and down I went into a major depression until Pat Boykins, my Black Magic Woman came along when I got my old job back at McDonalds. We were friends until I foolishly went back to the roofing crew with Albert Woofman" Smith and Negro Leaguer Eddi Daniels and Gin Man Nate and Granpa Charlie who must have been in his 80's.
I went to USF off and on and then my mother was murdered and I tried to go to school full time on the money I had left, and was getting from the State Teacher' Scholarship and many other sources. But my brother Al was in no shape to go to school and my father got him an early out of the Army and he had to work at the infamous WOODSHOP. Seeing that I wasn't getting anywhere and wanting to support my brother emotionally.
I dropped out and went to work at the Woodshop, or should I say Hell on Earth. Remember the old saw mill across from the old Lyman (Milwee), well this place was 10 times worse.
Then I got my job at FSC as a metallurgical lab technician working swing shifts and I tried to take courses and managed to finish a couple.
Finally after the debacle in Jax at FSC Baldwin - Jax, I limped back home via Altamonte and the House and got back in school at USF in Sec Ed.
During my internship Deb and I had our first "fight" of our euphoric engagement and her and her parents suggested we break up. Instead I dropped out of my internship and we moved the wedding up.
Next I found out about Financial Aid and now I had a full-time job at the Registrar's office and 4 wonderful mouths to feed, but things seemed manageble until Deb gave me the choice: Charlie won't tell anyone we are having an affair; you can stay if you want, BUT I'm not going to stop seeing Charlie. I thought about it for awhile and even asked my psychologist who had just been divorced by his first wife for having an affair and he told me to wait it out and she would probably come back - right?
That was 10 years ago and we did get remarried after she moved to Adams County Ohio,in the middle of nowhere. I failed to get a job in 4 months and she kicked me out and divorced me again which brought on an extremly hyper-manic episode and lead to Welfare and now SSDI.
After a period of total depression after the mania came down, I went to VR and went to first HCC and then USF and I used the Loans to see my kids.
Now I am working on Statistics and then French and I graduate at last.
Register for Free to view all details!
Reunions
Register for Free to view all events!