HOLMES, CARLEIGH SAMANTHA

[carleigh samantha holmes]

[atrb=style,width: 420px; background-color: efefef; background-image: url(http://24.media.tumblr.com/0478144b9f16c95a37367d1aca56b45c/tumblr_mkfax8tDxp1s97ldco1_500.png); padding: 5px, bTable] CARLEIGH S. HOLMES 22 | HETEROSEXUAL | SHELTER WORKER | COLLEGE STUDENT | SHENAE GRIMES THE INTERVIEW HELLO. THANKS FOR COMING IN TODAY. SHALL WE START WITH YOUR NAME? "My name is Carleigh Samantha Holmes. I don't really have any nicknames.. Some people call me Car which I just find kind of weird because I'm not a car? But yeah, I like Carleigh. Why it's spelt that way? I have no clue. My mom really liked it spelt like that and so I guess that's just how my name came to be. Samantha was my great aunt's name. I guess she took my mom in when she was younger and practically raised her. I never met her though because she had passed away before I was even born." THAT'S A NICE NAME. WHAT DO YOU DO FOR A LIVING? "Well I'm a full time college student. So that takes up most of my time. I'm not exactly sure what I'm majoring in, but I know it's in the art department. I've always had a passion for art and so I'm always either taking pictures (photography aspect) or I'm drawing in my sketch book. Not many people have seen my paintings though. I like to consider myself a pretty good painter, I just don't really like to show a lot of people if that makes sense? I haven't mastered the skill yet. Drawing I think I'm getting close and my photography is amazing. Those I'll share with just about everyone but anything else that I haven't been doing for forever? Forget about seeing them. At least until I perfected them. But for my job, I work at the rescue shelter that's on the other side of town from my school. I got the job there just a few months ago but I absolutely love it. Mostly because I get to work with animals and they let me do a lot of my school work there. So I get to take pictures of the animals and I get to draw them if I could get one to sit still long enough. Working there basically gives me this awesome feeling where I know I'm doing something good and I'm helping these animals out." INTERESTING. WHAT DO YOU DO FOR FUN? "Paint, draw, take pictures. Anything art related, you can guarantee that I'll like it. I even like to sing. But not many people know that about me. I don't have the greatest singing voice, but it doesn't matter because the only people that I care about hearing me? They can't hear me at all.. Which is hard some days but I've grown up with the fact that my mom will never hear my voice. Neither will my little brother and sister. But besides the artsy stuff, I love going for walks at the park. I love being outside pretty much any time of the day, any day of the week, any week of the year no matter what the weather is like. If I can be outside, I'm going to be. Unless of course I'm at a concert or I'm at a movie which are two things that I really like to do. Performing arts is something I'm interested in, but only as an interest. It's nothing I would like to do with my career. It's simply just for my enjoyment and for something to do when I get lonely." WOULD YOU SAY THOSE ACTIVITIES REFLECT WHO YOU ARE? I would suppose so. Mostly the art aspect though. I've always been interested in art no matter what it is. Museums are probably my favorite because there are so many different kinds of art displayed there and it's a good place to go whenever I need muse for my own work. It inspires me to do something else and then as soon as I come up with that idea, I set forth to it almost right away. I'm very passionate about art. I have been since I was a kid. I guess it came from the fact that I always had a pencil and paper in hand because I was constantly drawing little doodles and writing quotes that I thought up of. My photography is probably what I'm the best at because I don't think I ever left my house when I was a kid without my camera. I got a little disposable one every month as a present from my grandparents. So I never got to see my pictures until way later after I had taken them, but I still took as many pictures as I could on them. I saved the film for the good stuff though. Then when I turned thirteen my grandparents had bought me my first digital camera. That's where it all started. I'm very compassionate about things too. Some people call me a little sensitive but it was the way I grew up. My mother is deaf, and so are my little brother and sister. My mom wasn't always deaf. She was in a pretty bad accident when she was a teenager that left her hearing impaired. She never told me the details of what happened because it's a sore subject for her. I'm the only child she ever had herself. My father was her high school sweetheart and they had me at a young age. My mom was only eighteen, and my dad was only nineteen. But my mom raised me in a way where I should be sympathetic towards other people because that's how she was after she lost her hearing when she was fifteen. She had a whole new outlook on life after the accident and that's how she raised all of us kids. I'm usually always there if someone needs me too. Even if I'm mad for some reason. I can't stay mad to save my life and I guess that can be a good or a bad thing depending on the situation. But you can definitely see my compassion through my job. That's one of the biggest things that I'm compassionate about. Animals and making sure that they aren't going to be sent to the kill shelters or anything. Sometimes I can't do anything about it and that breaks my heart. So I'm worried about when I move into my own house because I'm worried that I'll end up trying to take every animal home to save them. I already have that problem trying to keep the two cats in my apartment a secret! Another thing people will tell you about me is that I'm understanding. This sort of goes with my never being able to hold a grudge. I'm also very trusting and so it's hard for me because there are those people out there that know this and use it to their advantage. They'll blow me off or they'll do something to me that isn't appreciated, and then they'll make up some excuse for doing what they did and I'll most likely believe them. I guess it's one of the things that I should look at more closely when I'm dealing with situations like these. But I can't help that I believe everyone and that I'm understanding. So I guess this can be both a good thing and a bad thing. The good part being that if I have a good friend or even if my little siblings make a mess or do something naughty, I'm typically understanding as to why they did that and I don't get mad about it. Energetic and outgoing are two more words that could be used to describe me. I'm always jumping around trying to get people to go out and have fun with me. Even if it's just cuddling and taking a nap. I don't necessarily like to be alone and so I try my best to avoid that happening. If I get too lonely then I just always pop up over at my best friends house. He's typically the only person who I'm perfectly okay with just cuddling with and taking naps or just sitting there making faces at him and making a fool out of myself in front of. We have this awesome relationship in which I don't care if I do look like a fool trying to do something. I know he's going to be there for me and he's probably the one person that I can completely be myself around." A COOL CAT LIKE YOU MUST HAVE A TON OF SUITORS FLOCKING TO YOU, HUH? "Well I'm heterosexual. I definitely like guys. One guy in particular that I like. His names AJ. My all time best friend. But that's sort of a secret. I don't plan on it ever getting out either because that would just completely ruin things between us and I don't want that at all. I've only had one serious relationship in the past and that was when I was in high school. His name was Ashton and he sort of was a jerk. Things were fine in the beginning but then he basically used me. Tried to take my virginity and then left me when I refused to do anything with him. That's probably why I don't really date around. I'm perfectly content with my life as it is now. Being a virgin at twenty-two doesn't bother me either. As cheesy as it sounds, I'm saving myself for someone that actually cares about and vice versa." COOL BEANS. THEY SAY YOUR FAMILY SHAPES WHO YOU ARE. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOURS? "Well I have a mom, a little brother named Brandon who is thirteen, and then a little sister named Katie who is ten. They were both adopted though. I'm the only sibling who is blood related to my mother. Which I'm perfectly fine with. My siblings were both adopted at the same time when Brandon was seven, and Katie was four. They are both deaf as well. But the difference was that they were born like that. My mom's was from an accident when she was fifteen. She didn't want to have children of her own, but my father had pushed her into it when she was seventeen and when she had just turned eighteen she had given birth to me. My father got sick of my mom for some reason and left. So I have no relationship with him which I'm perfectly fine with. I'm okay with taking care of my siblings and my mom. I'm definitely protective over them and I feel bad since I'm the only one who can hear things in our family. Other than that though, I'm very close with my mom and siblings. I had to get out and get an apartment of my own though. But I didn't want to leave my family so I only moved down the road. So I go there almost every day and help out with whatever I can." AND YOUR LIFE? TELL ME ABOUT YOUR PAST. I'M EAGER TO HEAR. "Well I was born to Lindsay Washington and Cameron Holmes way back when twenty-two years ago. They were fresh out of high school and I guess I wasn't originally wanted by mom. She didn't want to have kids because she didn't want to have a normal child that could hear because she wasn't going to be able to teach me how to talk. But after my father had pushed her into having me, she fell in love with me when I was born. My first language is American Sign Language. I was taught at a very young age what it was. My grandmother though taught me English. She figured that I needed to know how to use my voice and how to talk. She played a huge part in my life growing up because my father left when I wasn't even a year old. He left because he couldn't "handle dealing with Lindsay and the kid." Those were his exact words. At least that's what my grandmother tells me. I only grew up with one set of grandparents and my mom since she was an only child. We have a pretty small family and I'm okay with that. My mom was never worried that I would be hard of hearing because the only reason she was deaf was because she had gotten into an accident as I had told you earlier. I was teased a lot in elementary school because I used sign language. It was just sort of a habit because that's all I used around home. I only ever spoke to my grandmother. But even though my teachers were impressed that I already knew ASL, they tried to teach me to use my English instead of my hands. They wanted me to learn how to interact with other students and the only way I could do that was through speaking since not many kids that age knew the ASL that I knew. It took a while to get used to but after being constantly reminded to use my words, I finally got it down. I still got made fun of though and I was teased when my mom came into the room one day to pick me up early. The other students had gotten used to telling me to use my words whenever I used my ASL, so when my mom came in and was using her ASL to the teacher who also knew it, the other kids in my class kept yelling out "Use your words!" and it was hard. I absolutely hated school because I felt like I was the odd one out. But once I hit middle school? Everything completely changed. I was sticking up for my mom and I was sticking up for myself and every other person who was disabled in one way or another. My mom and I were always close too when I was growing up. Her and my grandmother were my parents and they taught me everything I needed to know about life. Middle school I was involved in art classes and I was also involved in dance classes. So between those extra curricular activities and translating at the stores or anywhere public we went for my mom, I didn't really have any time to hang out with the few friends I actually had. But then hit high school. When I was a freshman my mom adopted my siblings. They had been in multiple foster homes and they were both from different families who didn't want them because they couldn't hear. It broke my moms heart to hear this and so she immediately did everything she could to bring them into our home. I'm glad she did too because I love those little squirts more than anything. They were timid at first and they didn't want to come near me or my mom. I figured it was because they came from abusive homes. They would flinch anytime I would reach out to hug them and it broke my heart! I've never gotten either of them to open up to me about it but that's okay. They trust us now and I'm glad they do because those kids are just like any other kids and I'm glad that the kids in their school are much more accepting of them then the kids in my school were to me and I wasn't the one who had a disability. When I was a sophomore in high school I met Ashton. He was into art just like I was. Except he was more into sculpture and painting where I was more into drawing and photography. But we had met in a painting class and we immediately clicked. We dated for exactly one year. Things were perfect for that year though. At least I thought they were. He was sweet. He met my mom and even attempted to learn ASL for me and her. It didn't work out so well but he at least tried to and that was the sweetest thing that anyone had ever done for me. He took me to prom even because he was a junior and he was allowed to go. He brought me as his date. He was also the type of guy to make me paintings and the type to write me notes and bring me flowers when I was feeling down. I seriously thought this kid was perfect! But there was one thing that always bothered me about him. He was constantly trying to get me to do more than make out with him and I didn't want to. I let him feel me up every now and then. But I was too afraid to do anything more. It was our one year anniversary and he took me out to this very fancy and expensive restaurant. I thought he was the sweetest thing every because he had learned a phrase in ASL. He complimented my mom when he came to pick me up and told her he would have me home by midnight. I didn't know why so late. But then I figured it was because after dinner he took me to see fireworks knowing how much I loved them. Then he took me to a hotel. I couldn't understand why until he pulled out a condom. He then freaked out on me when I told him I wasn't going to do anything. He tried forcing me into it but I managed to push him off and I ran like hell back home. Since I then I haven't dated at all and I'm okay with that. He sort of ruined my love life. I didn't really care though because a few years later I was off to college and I was busy with school work and taking care of my siblings. My first year I lived at home but took as many credits as I could so I was always gone at school or I was always working. It was a lot of late nights at the diner where I was a waitress at, but it was all worth it. My first year as a college student I met AJ. He was one of the few people I had seen using ASL and I instantly befriended him. I could actually have a conversation with him and instantly we clicked. We became pretty close and he helped me with things and I helped him with other things. I managed to get my own apartment my sophomore year in college and I've been here ever since. Although I split my time between my apartment, my moms house and then I'm over at AJ's most of the time. He's grown to be my best friend and I couldn't have asked for anyone better. I think I can finally say that things are going just as planned. I have an amazing family, a great job, I'm almost done with college and I have the best friend a girl could have. Sounds pretty perfect to me." What about a secret? Everyone has a secret. "Well I have this thing called dermatillomania. It isn't super serious or anything. But it's sort of an anxiety thing. I pick at scabs and basically anything on my body. I pick at my cuticles and at my nails and I know I'm doing it but I can't stop myself. It's left a few scars but I just became aware of this about a year or two ago when someone pointed it out to me. That's when I started to do research on it and I found out what it was called." ALRIGHT. TIME'S ALMOST UP. TELL ME ABOUT YOUR DREAMS. QUICK! "I'm going to school to be an artist. Kind of. I'm not exactly sure what I want to specifically major in. Right now I'm just taking all the fun classes that interest me and hopefully I'll find what I want to do for the rest of my life soon. But I definitely know I want to do something in the art field. As for my job right now? I love working at the rescue shelter. Gives me something to feel good about while I get to go to school and figure out what I want to do with the rest of my life. I'm perfectly okay with letting things play out in my life. I'm not one to worry too much about my future." AND THAT'S A WRAP. IT WAS NICE GETTING TO KNOW YOU. "Yeah anytime! Thank you." BEHIND THE MASK MYA | 18 | CENTRAL | I DONT REMEMBER | MADISYN, EZRA SEE MADISYN OR EZRA

[SETH]

[atrb=style,width: 350px; background-color: efefef; background-image: url(http://24.media.tumblr.com/0478144b9f16c95a37367d1aca56b45c/tumblr_mkfax8tDxp1s97ldco1_500.png); padding: 5px, bTable] ACCEPTED WELCOME TO BACKSEAT SERENADE & DON'T FORGET YOUR CLAIMS She's perfect and I'm stoked.