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Page 15
Campus Review
January 31, 2014
Teresa Oliver’s First Book Tells of the
Adventures of a Young Boy with ADHD
Clayton State Psychology Major
Starts Own Non-Profit: Half Step 2 Help
by Amanda Parham
The Clayton State University Department
of Psychology is proud of all of its gradu-
ates. At the moment, however, Teresa
Oliver is in the spotlight.
Oliver graduated with her Master of
Applied Developmental Psychology in
the spring of 2013, and her first book,
“Again David's Having Distractions:
Friggin Chicken” has just gone on sale.
Go to http://borntoread.co/home.html for
more information.
“This book is a lovely reflection of
Teresa’s wonderful creativity blended
with her content expertise in Applied
Developmental Psychology,” says an
appropriately proud Dr. Deborah
Deckner, associate professor and director
of the Clayton State Master of Science in
Psychology program. “(It’s) about the
exploits/adventures of a young boy with
Attention Deficit Disorder.”
According to Oliver, “Again David's
Having Distractions: Friggin Chicken”
(that’s an acronym for ADHD) is a story
of a nine-year-old boy named David who
has trouble fitting-in at school. He is often
distracted by his wild imagination, and
finds himself being the source of every-
one's jokes. This particular year, David is
faced with a task that could make him the
laughing stock of the entire school. He has
to decide if he should accept the task and
possibly be humiliated in front of the
entire school or if he should just hide in
the supply closet.
“In David’s case, daydreaming has gotten
a bad reputation, and his thoughts have
often gotten him yelled at and misunder-
stood,” says Oliver in the dedication of
her book, which she feels fits in well with
Clayton State’s “Dreams Made Real” tag
line. “However, daydreamers are often
people that make things happen. They are
creative and motivated… I dare everyone
who reads this book to dream… then take
the first step, and make it happen.
“Often times we limit ourselves by think-
ing so practically when it comes to col-
lege and degrees. I took all the tools that I
learned from Clayton
State and created
something I feel will
inspire many beyond
what any job could
do! Clayton State
made this dream
real.”
Along those lines,
Oliver adds that
Clayton State had
a
tremendous
impact on her,
notably in the per-
son of three psy-
chology profes-
sors, Deckner, Dr.
Samuel Maddox
and Dr. Eric
Bridges.
“Dr. Deckner goes
above and beyond for all her students!
She takes so much time out her very busy
Miriam White, a non-traditional senior
Psychology major at Clayton State
University, is not only preparing to gradu-
ate in May 2014, but also runs her own
non-profit organization, Half Step 2 Help.
Born in Youngstown, Ohio, and raised in
New Castle, Pa., White arrived in Georgia
when she was 15 years old. Moving
around a lot as a child, she had to find sta-
bility in something.
“I found stability first in God then he
equipped me to handle all the things life
had to throw at me,” she states.
White stresses that her non-profit is a
Christian-affiliated organization, “clients
mostly need support and prayer so we
offer religious guidance alongside our
helping services.”
She also states that her compassion for
poor families’ needs, struggles, successes
and specifically single mothers inspired
her to start the organization. In addition,
the death of her child and father during
the same semester made White want to
become an active part of people’s healing
processes as well.
“This world is harsh and comes with
many conditions that set the poor up for
failure. This organization encourages and
strengthens those who are working to help
themselves but may need an extra push in
a direction they do not know exists,” she
comments.
Half Step 2 Help provides information to
those facing emergency situations, those
wanting to send children to school, those
needing assistance with unexpected preg-
nancy, and those without family support
who need help during a life crisis.
White explains, “we consist of eleven pro-
grams, one of which is community serv-
ice. Other programs offer job education,
free resume writing and skill building
courses, small business entrepreneurship
guidance, and much more.”
After graduation, White has big plans for
Half Step 2 Help. A program draft for
environmental awareness with the
Clayton County Commissioner is under-
way for the coming year, and networking
with CalvaryRefuge Center and Atlanta
Task Force for teaching career or life edu-
cation classes through mentorship is being
organized. She also says that some grant
Oliver
Oliver, cont’d., p. 19
Half Step 2 Help, cont’d., p. 22