My birth name is Tamali Zawede Banks

but for the past six years I have been Tamali Banks San
Jose, due to a certain special arrangement called marriage.
Those who dont know me struggle with the foreign name,
pronouncing it Ta-mah-lee like the Meso-American stuffed
corn husk, but for my family and friends I simply go by
Tommy. I was born in a place called Loma Linda, which is
a small city clogged with Seventh-Day Adventists and
Roland Deschain

vegans, located in the southern region of the sun-shiny

happens to be a dread-head vegan, and a mother who is a Ugandan, retired fashion designer, who is
probably a democrat if she had to choose but she is rather confused about her political designation. I am
the middle child of five girls who range in age from 39 down to 32, all who equally have hard to
pronounce Ugandan names and we grew up in the San Gabriel Valley of California where we attended
elementary, junior high and high school.
When I first attended the 9th grade I didnt have the slightest idea of what I wanted to be when I
grew up; I could relate to a lot of my teenage classmates. So I tried out a few things like photography,
modeling and acting - I even attended cosmetology school through a program offered off campus. I
dabbled in art and spent two years in cooking class and after all that, when I graduated from Nogales high
school, I only knew that I loved all of the arts and creative writing. My head was a swirly mess of post
high school graduate confusion and I was determined on getting it all sorted out. I attended the local
junior college and took a bunch of meaningless classes that went toward no major at all during my first
year out of high school. In year two, I decided on Fashion design and quickly learned you had love to

draw and I soon found out that I hated drawing, I just liked to look at it. My mom tried to sway me to
continue with fashion, as she did with all her daughters, but failed, I withdrew from that field quickly. In
the third year following high school graduation I tried culinary arts and surprisingly, I succeeded at it. I
received my culinary arts degree and began working in restaurants and catering companies and by then it
was 2002 and I had a two year old daughter and needed to spend more time with her and less time
cooking, so I quit cooking after 5 years under my belt and began to wait tables and bartend part-time.
Sometimes, while at work, when the restaurant slowed to a crawl, I would begin to jot down short stories
on a piece of paper in my order book. I had always written poetry and shorts while in high school but
never really knew what to do with any of it. During high school those thoughts of being a creative writer
would dance around in my head but those thoughts had always been shoved away into some black box
within my mind then kicked away. Now, seventeen years after high school, that same black box that was
kicked away has somehow resurfaced and all those creative writing scribbles have begun to pour out and
spill from my ears. I never really thought I would come back to English but the jumble of words spilling
from my ears say different, they want to be heard. They want to make some real sense too. No run-on and
fragmented sentences, misspellings and improper word usage, those black inked letters want to say
something so I have to get the tools to help them. Nowadays I am a full-time stay at home mom (mother
of three) and have decided to get back into English and see where that will take me. I cannot see through
the foggy window pane of my life to know exactly where I will wind up, but hopefully it will be with an
English degree so that I may teach English to others and possible write my own novels.
As of now I do not belong to any organizations. I dont even know how to join any organizations.
I wish I can say I belong to a Stay at Home Mothers Club but I never got around to looking one up. Ive
always wanted to belong to one of those writing clubs where people sit around and discuss the stories
theyve written or havent written yet. Maybe have a pencil behind my ear - do they even use pencils
anymore? Or what about a book club, that would be nice to join. Or even a cooking club, I could do that, I
already have the experience. Maybe those kinds of organizations could help me with my shyness or my
reclusiveness.

I have a philosophy on life that I feel would make the world a better place. It is for others to treat
everyone the way they would like to be treated. That ancient golden rule many parents try to instill into
their own children or at least my parents tried to. People need to stop telling others or forcing others to do
what they do not want to do. Stop using fear tactics to persuade others into believing a certain way or
behaving a certain way. I think people need to be able to have an open mind like Socrates wanted and to
be able to think for themselves and to choose for themselves. That is the way that my husband and I raise
our three children and that is the way we hope they raise their own children if they have any of their own.
We want to be able to look back at them ten years from now and see that they have become good and
caring people.
Ten years from now I hope I am alive and our planet isnt completely covered in water or hasnt
become some dry wasteland covered in heaps of non-decomposing laptops and cell phones. If I am still
alive then I hope I have received my BA in English (BY THEN) and am teaching to others or writing my
own novels and short stories. I hope to achieve this by finishing up these courses then transferring to the
local University to take classes toward my English major.
There are a lot of people and events that are extremely memorable in my life but I will not list all
of them since I know you have many other papers to read so I will just name one of each. A person who
has become a memorable person in my life goes by the name of Roland Deschain. Hes the son of Steven
and Gabrielle Deschain and is a gunslinger from a world that has moved on leaving its inhabitants in a
land filled with drought, famine, disease and scary looking human mutants. Roland of course is a fictional
person but he, if anyone, is one of the most memorable people in my life. I met him when I was in the 9th
grade and he has stayed with me ever since. Maybe its his strong voice that I hear when he speaks, his
tired fearless face, or his strong character and determination to get to the place he must reach. He has an
overwhelming amount of integrity and he is always very caring. As for the unforgettable event Id have to
say my wedding is the most memorable. That sticks out as probably one of the most exciting, enjoyable
days I have ever had. Maybe because I got all dressed up in a hotel room filled with all my sisters, my 8
year old daughter, my mother and soon to be mother- in-law while laughing and sipping champagne as

the guests arrived. Or maybe it was the moment our song was played and we stepped inside the ballroom
to commence our first dance. My bouquet held onto by nervous hands as my husband swept me across the
dance floor. That is a night that I will never forget because it was filled with smiles and laughter and
happiness. That would probably be the last time we would see all of my family and my husbands family
together in one room. Thats a memory that stands out.
If I could choose an object that would make a good representation of my personality it would be
the Taoist Yin-Yang symbol. One side is dark and the other light, two things that shouldnt go together,
but do and they fit together perfectly. Needing one side for the other to exist, the Yin-Yang symbol
represents balance. Just as up needs down, left needs right, everything in the world needs balance. In a
world without balance, it all just may come crashing down. I am a pretty well balanced individual as my
siblings have always told me. I like to approach the world with a balanced and fair way of thinking.
I would describe our media as people who like to take certain world events that they know will
sell in our country then replay them over and over again until we get sick of it or something new happens.
Our media usually has this one-sided view on current events, not a balanced one, and what they show
viewers on television or write in columns, is based on a single point of view. When media doesnt provide
an overall image of the picture and different points of views from others, then our society cannot see the
entire picture and they go through life believing they should have this idea about life from what they see
in the media, but that is a fantasy.
I am extremely concerned about our societys future because human ideology hasnt seemed to
have evolved much. We only think about what we have, see and do at this point in time instead of
looking into the future at our grandchildren and their grandchildren. Im afraid that if we keep at this
pace, of over consuming and under-conserving, we will not have a stable planet to pass on to those who
will follow after us.
Two inquiry-based questions I feel strongly about have to do with reusable energy and world
poverty. I want to know what we can do to rid the world of dangerous gas emissions that destroy the
atmosphere and the coral reef. Why arent we using more renewable energy and creating more products

that are biodegradable. I also want to know if we, as a planet, can ever do away with monetary exchange
for things we need to survive such as food, shelter and basic clothing. I wonder if we as a planet will one
day want to provide all necessities for one another without having to receive money in the process. Some
people think a utopian society is not realistic and will not work but I think it could work if we structured it
properly. I hope at least someone tries thinking out of the box one day regarding these inquiries and
maybe then we can have a world that is capable of having a bright future. Well, thats me in a nutshell
and hopefully there is a lot more to add to it in the future.