Author Description

About the Book A Walk Through Life is a collection of poems written from personal experiences or from stories from others’ experiences. Despite the author’s struggles in life, she has managed to create a great life for herself by accomplishing goals she never even realized she had. The author hopes anyone who reads this book is able to find something that they can relate to. About the Author My name is Christina Fontenot. I was born on December 13, 1988 in Covington, Louisiana. When I was fifteen years old, I suffered a traumatic brain injury from a go-cart accident. I was in a coma for fourteen days. That accident changed my life forever. My short-term memory was severely affected. Even though it was difficult after the TBI, I graduated from high school in 2007. Confused and uncertain of my future, I decided to go to Springfield, Missouri to try to change my life. When I got to Springfield, even though I was working numerous minimum-wage jobs, I found myself homeless and living in a homeless shelter for six months. I was looking for direction and heard about Missouri Valley College through friends and decided to again try to make a better life and future for myself. When I arrived at College in Marshall, Missouri, I was scared and uncertain if I would be able to be successful due to my TBI. My student loans and grants covered my tuition and room and board, but I needed to find a way to make some money. I did odd jobs for one of the faculty members and then eventually got a job in the college library. College classes were difficult for me and I wanted to give up several times. However, with hard work, determination to succeed, and help from the great faculty and staff at Missouri Valley, I managed to graduate in 2017 with an Associates of Arts Degree. I had always liked writing poetry, but it wasn’t until one of my English professors told me that she wanted to publish one of my poems in a publication of the College called the “Purple Patch,” that