I was inspired to create a small biography of me after my great aunt made one of her and it was published. Mine is small and I would love to obviously add more detail and events and actually create a biography of myself. Obviously I would wait until I am older and have more experiences but this is it for now. And remember I have left out many details but I didn't want to it to be too long and to bore you. I have added my name and real places and I hope this thread is not deleted but I have not given anyone else's personal details such as my parents, brother or sisters. I hope you enjoy! -Katie Shute ------------------------------------------------ I was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada to a woman who neglected me and was taken from. For a short period I lived in a hotel with a social worker who was hired by child and Family Services. That was all before I turned a month old. When I was seven weeks old I was taken into the care of the Shute's A white family who had been on the CFS list from when they previously took in two twins. In all honesty they had hoped for a boy and initially declined to take me in as they didn't have any of the baby things still. After much hesitation they did take me in... the sick little native girl. Of course, they like loved me like I was their own, despite having been given the belief that I was to only stay with them for a few months. A few months turned into many months which turned into years. At the age of seven I was still living with them. Given the name Katherine and taking their last name, I had become apart of their family. I attended the local elementary school with my younger brother, James (who eventually came a year after me). I made lots of friends and I absolutely adored my family and my life. In my seven years I grew up in a modest five bedroom, three bathroom, two story house. I grew up in a good neighborhood and a street where everyone knew each others name. I loved it and not once did I ever believe I could possibly be someone else's daughter. Then one day when I turned eight.. CFS came to my home when my father was at work and my mother was in the shower. My sister who was fifteen answered the door. They more or less invited themselves in and told me I was to go with them as my birth mother was ready to take me back. I was confused, frightened and I remember screaming for my mother. She had run downstairs, towel only to find CFS in her kitchen, me on the floor crying and my sister mad as a hatter. I was not taken that day. My parents had gone to court the very next month to gain custody. Unfortunately they were not able to adopt me but instead gained legal guardianship of me. I was considered the ward of the city. Things were calm from then on but I still feared that one day I would be taken away from my family. There were still times where CFS came to my home asking me if I had changed my mind and if I wanted to see my real family and every time I told them that the Shute family were my real family and the only family I needed. My birth mother however kept bringing this matter up in court and my parents went to court eleven times to resolve this matter and won every time. I was happy my parents loved me like their own daughter. I knew there were foster families who didn't care for the child and only did it for the money so I was grateful to them. When I turned eleven I discovered musical talent within myself. I had taken up piano against my will and absolutely hated it. However that hate was brief because I'm one year, I had gone through six piano teachers. At first I thought it was because they didn't like me but I was wrong. It turned out I just kept outleveling them. In my second year I was already set up to do the grade 6 level in the Royal Conservatory or Music. As a child I loved the attention I got as what some people called "piano prodigy". I will admit I was not modest back then. Of course I grew out of that phase and now it is something that my whole life revolves around and I don't care what others think of my playing (unless it's something like an audition or concerto competition. Then I get all crazy wondering if they thought I was good or not) The summer I was fourteen, my parents decided to move just outside the city on the other side of Winnipeg. My parents had always wanted property so we moved into a much larger house than we initially wanted. My parents wanted to downsize after my sisters moved out but ended up buying a 4400sq foot home (including basement) because it was selling much cheaper than what we were selling our home for. My parents decided they would make profit in renting our basement which was fully finished with 2 bathrooms and 3 bedrooms. They house had originally belonged to two families before we moved in. I loved our new home and our neighbors though much farther than city neighbors (each property was approx 2-5acres). I would be starting high school in the fall and I was crazy excited. I would miss my friends but I was happy to make new ones. However... it wasn't as I thought it would be. I had moved from the south end of Winnipeg which I will admit was a very white community with middle class and upper middle class families to the north end of the city which was home to the lower income families and... the native and gang population. The first highschool I went to was scary as heck. The people and the environment was horrific. I had also been victim to bullying and racism due to being native whereas before I moved, no one cared. Even my first day, one of my teachers who was always cheerful had asked me, when I came to class where my special ed teacher was. I told her I didn't have one. She then accidently let it slip that most native students had disabilities and she was surprised I didn't. I remember my classmates laughing and from then on I was called the special ed girl. I knew my teacher did not mean it on purpose but that day more or less destroyed my reputation... That wasn't the end of it. I remember nearing the end of grade nine, I was surrounded by seven grade twelve guys in the hallway after school. I had stayed behind to talk to my science teacher and was waiting for his return from the office. I remember one of them telling me that "Fucking natives like you don't belong here. Stupid cunt." I didn't respond, I didn't know how to. I guess one of them was angry that I didn't and pushed me down. He started kicking me and I started crying. A few of them tried reasoning as I was just in grade nine and they were all eighteen (the age of adults in Manitoba) and could be criminally charged. That didn't seem to stop him and at one point I didn't even know how many people were kicking. However, I do remember when they stopped. The wrestling team had begun their warm up by running through the halls and found me. I had spent three months in the hospital, 4 broken ribs. Fractured arm and other bruises and cuts. After that year, my parents sent me to another school in hopes it would be better. And it was. My brother and I both enjoyed that highschool. And despite a little racism shown by other classmates, it wasn't too bad. I made some really close friends and that's all I needed. I did my work, socialized with my few good friends and that's pretty much it. When I turned 18, I was officially allowed to be adopted and allowed to change my name. And that is exactly what I did. May 9th, 1996 I officially became Katherine Shute and was adopted into the Shute family. And now, I am a full time piano major in the faculty of music at the University of Manitoba and I love it completely. I just completed midterms so YAAAASSS. I'm free for now.