Personal Story
My palms have started to sweat and my heart is beating
faster. I close my eyes and drop my head saying to myself,
“Dear Lord, I need You. I ask for strength, knowledge, and
for You to calm my spirit. Lord, I know with You by my
side, anything is possible.” I lift my head, open my eyes and
take another deep breath. My instructor places the test in
front of me. I grab my pencil and I start to think about what
my sister used to say to me, “Decide that you want it more
than you are afraid of it and when you feel like you can’t,
just repeat it to yourself: You got this!” I put a smile on my
face as I start to laugh inside, Ha! Ha! Ha! Fear, you will
not get the best of me because I am the master of my
capabilities!
Shaqueta Bogan attends Columbia Career and Adult Education in Lake
City, FL. She demonstrates a strong work ethic with consistent
attendance, diligence in “staying with it” as she learns difficult skills,
and thoughtfulness of others here at school.
Home
I was born in Frankfurt, West Germany on December
6 th 1946 which is St. Nicklaus Day in Germany. St.
Nicklaus is said to bring toys, apples, nuts, chocolate,
oranges, and cookies to children on that day. My parents’
names were Georg and Elfriede Dick. My father died in
1949 when I was 2 ½ years old. My mother worked at a
cosmetics factory from 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM.I grew up at
my father’s parents’ house. My great-grandfather had a
female cat that had kittens twice a year. I loved cats and
they were my lovely play toys. I had a happy childhood. I
attended kindergarten and an athletic club when I was 4
years old. At the age of 6, I started school in April 1953,
and finished school in March 1961. I went to work on April
1 st 1961. For nine years I worked at a bank. Then I went to
work at an investment management firm for 28 years until
my retirement in 1998. I got married in 1980, but my
husband died in 1998.
As a child my dream was to live in the United States. At
the end of 1991, my husband and I built a house in Milton,
Florida for our vacations. We came twice a year in the