Chris Gardner

Have you ever seen the Pursuit of Happyness? Im sure you have.. It about the life and hard times of this guy Chris Gardner. you may nit know him, but when your done reading this, if some one even says his name, your going to be the first person to say something. This movie, starring Will Smith as Chris, and Jayden Smith as his son, was released in 2006. It was made to inform people of this man who went from suffering to being the CEO of an International Holding company, to tell people of his journey through the game we call Life.

Childhood He was born Christopher Paul Gardner on February 9, 1954 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His childhood wasnt one that people would call the best. He grew up not knowing his father, and constantly being in and out of foster homes. When he was home though, he was taken care of by his mother, Bettye Jean Gardner. Not knowing his father was hard enough, but when he was in these foster homes, he was sexually molested. Tragic. But, when he was with his mother, he was treated well and was raised even better. One thing she made sure she did was give her son, strong spiritual morals, and lessons. She made sure that she worked jim, and kept him in church. As he got older, things only got harder. He grew up with no sisters or brothers, and did pretty well in school, despite everything that was going on around him.

Inspirations Growing up, you could say that Chris did not have a lot around him that he could be inspired by, seeing as to how he did not have a positive male role model or figure in his life, but maybe his pastor. Besides that, his mother was probably the biggest inspiration he had in his younger life. While growing up, even though he was not always able to be with her, when he was with her, she did he good, most of the time. She also inspired him because she was ,for the most part, a person. Another person that Even when he was young, up my mind that when I going to know who there someone who isnt even make you do something like more thing that inspired stock broker. One day, was in church, and she very positive influential inspired him was his son. Chris always said I made have children, they are father is. Its great how alive yet can inspire and that, it is really cool. One him, unexpectedly, was a Chris was walking down the

street and he saw a man get out of a red Ferrari and he was stunned. I want to know two things, What do you do and How do you do it.. said Chris. It turns out that this guy worked at a brokerage and he made 80,000 dollars a year. Eighty-Thousand Big ones, A YEAR! Chris was glad to hear that. This encounter with this random person who had a nice car, inspired him to go in and apply for the internship at Dean Witter Stock Brokerage.

Struggles You already know that Chris life was not to good, and these are some of the things he struggled with, While he was young and old. While he was young, he never had one home to stay at. Just think about leaving school, and not knowing where your going to go. To your mother, or to a foster home with people you dont really know? If you ended up going to a foster home, imagine thinking if your going to be molested that night. He also had a problem with domestic violence and alcoholism while growing up. Another struggle he had, was going straight to the navy after high school, and after that he went into medical research. This is when he had devoted his time to selling Bone Density Scanners. It was a machine that gave a slighter denser picture than an x-ray, and it was portable. The bad things about those were that, he did not have any other type of income, he spent his life savings on the machines, and if he did not sell them, it was like losing a months groceries, or rent. Also while he was trying to sell the scanners, he had to sometimes park in illegal places, to try to make it on time. As a result of this, his car was impounded because he could not pay the tickets and he ended up being put in jail over night because of that also. During this time, his wife decided she was not happy with Chris, or his situation, so she left him. But Chris would not let his son go. He could not do it, remember what he had said about himself when he was younger. Shortly after this, he signed up for an internship at Dean Witter, thinking there was a salary, and even though there was not, he still did his best to be the first of the class. He did this living on next to nothing, supporting his son, and staying at a homeless shelter. There were some days when he could not make it there in time, and sadly, he had to take his son into the subway restroom, put tissue on the ground, and barricade the door so he and his son could sleep and not be disturbed for the night, despite the few people who came by and banged

on the door trying to get in. He and his son had to bathe in public restrooms, and he lugged his stuff around in a grocery store cart. When you really think about it, it os so sad seeing as to how he went through life. Now.. Chris owns his own business which started out as Gardner Rich and Company and know is an international holdings company. He spends spare time relaxing, donating money, serving the homeless, funding and assisting, and speaking at seminars to young people. He is also a board member of the National Fatherhood Initiative. Their mission is to pretty the lives who do fathers mainly education and he is member Education And last but much improve of children not have their around. Hes committed to organizations, also a board on the National Foundation. certainly not

least, people consider it a GREAT honor to have him speak at a pep rally or anything of that nature. How would not want to hear from Chris Gardner? They guy who went from rags to riches with a baby and machines that some people thought were time machines.

Torey Lee and Quayla Mosley