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Striking a chord.

Article Excerpt
Byline: Linc Wonham For The Register-Guard

Some things in life are given to us, and others we have to work for. The challenge, of course, is identifying the things we have and applying them toward the things we want to achieve.

South Eugene High School senior Christina Stubbs knew early in life that she has a gift for singing. Already, she has worked to make the most out of her talents, and she aspires to use them professionally someday.

Because of forces beyond her control, Stubbs' path to an education has been far more difficult. For her first two years of high school, the Stubbs family struggled with homelessness and Christina suffered from subsequent anxiety that nearly drove her away from school.

Despite these obstacles, with the relief she gained through her singing and the support she received from students and staff at South - and by her own dogged determination - Stubbs not only graduates June 13, but also has been awarded the Gilma Greenhoot Scholarship by Lane Community College.

"For two years we didn't have hardly any food," she says. "My clothes were dirty and smelled bad, and I had to wear the same outfits every day. We stayed part of the time in a garage behind our church, and it was really hard to go to school because I was afraid I'd get teased or called dirty."

Stubbs transferred from South to Willamette High for her sophomore year in the midst of her family's time of crisis, and then things began to stabilize about the time she returned to South for the start of her junior year.

"Everything changed by the time I came back," she says. "I made a lot of friends here and everybody was helping me out. I was a brighter person and I had more confidence in myself. I just stayed as busy as I could those two years, and singing was definitely an important distraction from everything else."

Stubbs continued to develop her talent by singing in choirs at church and school, and she joined a school jazz ensemble. While her home and social lives were beginning to make vast improvements, her academic status suffered greatly from the two years of turmoil.

"When I'm singing I don't think about anything but the words to the songs, it completely eases my mind," she says. "But my grades were bad from missing school, and I had to make a decision to really turn it around or I was going to be in real trouble."

With the help of her teachers and school counselor Laurene Larson, Stubbs was able to do just that.

"I am so proud of her," says Stubbs' mother, Madeline. "I'm shocked, really. She is a very gifted and talented girl, but she has come a long way. I am just so glad that she was able to stay focused, because she was a kid who was really struggling in high school."

Stubbs says Larson encouraged her when she needed support and pushed her when she needed motivation.

"Christina simply doesn't give up," Larson says. "It's awfully hard to wipe the smile off her face. She's had some tough times, but she always uses the negative things for her own personal growth and comes out ahead in the end."

The relationship with Larson has had such an effect on Stubbs that in addition to her singing, she also wants to explore counseling.

"I'll study music, but I also want to study psychology," she says. "If someone has a problem, since I've been through so much myself, I feel I can relate to them and help them by sharing my experiences."

Larson says she believes Stubbs'...

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