Ugly by Ugly by Constance Constance

BriscoeBriscoe20062006

Olympic value highlighted:

Constance overcomes her mother’s physical and verbal

abuse to work hard to

get into university and become one of the first black female

judges in the UK.

Throughout her childhood, Constance is emotionally and

verbally abused by her mother.

If only I could stop wetting the bed just for a week. No

beatings, no pain. My mother might even like me for a week. It wasn’t too much to ask … I would just like to be normal,

normal for seven days.

When Constance is 13, her mother moves out of the house, leaving her to fend for herself without

electricity or food.

Constance takes two jobs to pay the rent her mum charges her,

while studying, with a far-fetched aim of becoming a barrister.

Story Summary

Constance’s mother tears up her university application forms, but

she manages to enrol herself into Newcastle’s law course.

She started to tear it up into small pieces.

“Only clever people go to university,” she said…

Constance graduates with Honours as a Bachelor of Law.

“I’m off to university… I will never ever speak to you again… I

have nothing to thank you for, Mummy.,. All I ever wanted was a

mum who loved me…”

It tells of the torment Constance receives, and

how she rises above the abuse to strive for excellence and reach

her goals, even though nobody believes she

will succeed in life.

It teaches us to persevere through our own problems,

to dare to believe in our dreams and reach for excellence.

Enjoy!

Done by: Karen Ho, Anglo-Chinese Junior College