My 2016 FBA Draftee: Tia Terra
#1 of Tia Terra
Something big has arrived. :)
And now, something big has arrived. This is my 2016 FBA draftee, Tia Terra. She is a female opossum from Tennessee and here is her story.
On November 10, 1995, in Smyrna, Tennessee, Veronica Terra became the happiest opossum in the world when she gave birth to her new baby girl. After a grueling home birth and a devastating divorce, Veronica was able to forget all of that as she realized she was now a single mother. Still, she knew that she wanted to give her baby girl a life better than her own. After arguing with her mother and her sisters, Veronica decided to name her daughter the name her father would have wanted. She named her Tia, Tia Terra.
A few years past and Veronica went back to working as a mechanic. Some would say that she was, and still is, the best mechanic in Tennessee. Although, Tia's first few years in school weren't too good. Teachers would say that Tia wouldn't finish her homework, was always behind the class, and sometimes didn't finish her test. She managed to get through pre-school, but her struggles still continued as she went to 1st grade. "You wouldn't believe the calls I used to get from her teachers." Said Veronica. "They'd be like 'Tia is failing the class' and I would ask 'Why is she failing?' Or 'What do you think I should do?'. One teacher just said that maybe Tia is just stupid. I wanted to punch her little nose in." Finally, Veronica decided to seek medical help. She was disheartened when the doctor diagnosed her with mild dyslexia. Still, Veronica pushed Tia hard to get through school. Veronica herself didn't go to college and she barely made it through high school. It was difficult and taxing but Tia managed to get through Elementary school. This also taught Tia a very important lesson: to never give up.
Although, as Tia went to middle school, her and Veronica were given another surprise. Tia was growing, fast. She had already reached a height of 5'10" in 6th grade, the same height as her mother. "Oh boy, I tell you, it was like everyday she would wake up and tell me 'Mama, this shirt don't fit me no more.' or 'Mama, these shorts are too small.' Oh boy, shopping for clothes was hard, I tell ya." Said Veronica. Still, Tia's increasing height didn't really help her in school. She was constantly bullied and called names by the other students, sometimes even the staff called her names. Tia would even come back home crying. Veronica would just tell her to stay away from anyone who hurt her, but this soon led to Tia being very anti social. Thankfully, Tia found something that would help her through so much: Sports. It all started when Tia and her mother were watching Furcar one night. Veronica decided to change the channel to watch the Tennessee Moonshiners play and that's when Tia instantly fell in love with basketball all by watching one player shoot the ball better than anyone else on the court: John Stoat. "Suddenly she kept on saying that she wanted to play basketball." Said Veronica. "She said that she wanted to shoot like John Stoat, and I told her that it's not an easy sport and that she would have to work hard, but she told me she would...So, we made a deal." Soon, Veronica bought a simple hoop that wasn't put together yet and a basketball and gave it to Tia. She then gave her a tool box and said that if she wanted to play basketball, she would have to practice, and in order to practice, she needed to build her own hoop. At first, Tia was excited to get started, but after a few days it seemed that Tia took on an impossible task. Soon, months went by and Tia would continue to whine and complain, but all Veronica said to her was: "You wanted to play basketball." Eventually, Veronica thought that Tia would soon give up, until one night. One night, when Veronica was sleeping, she was awoken by the sound of a basketball going through a net. She then rushed out of bed and went to the backyard and saw Tia shooting the ball at the basketball hoop she built all by herself. Veronica was so proud she almost cried.
In eighth grade, Tia easily made the school basketball team due to her height, but she never really played like an average bigfur. Tia could score very well and was very skilled in the offensive post along with averaging 3 blocks a game. Her stand out performance on the team soon gave her the popularity she never had at school. Everyone wanted to meet her or play with her or even just talk to her and once she moved up to high school, her popularity followed her. She once again made the team and the coach focused a lot on her offense. Tia sure did deliver though. She averaged 15 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 blocks in 10th grade. Then, Tia learned something that would change her game drastically. She learned how to dunk. This may seem like a simple thing to learn, but in her senior year, Tia reached a height of 6'9" and dunking became the most fun thing to do. Windmills, reverses, 360's, Tia put on quite a show. She also made many good friends at school, one of which was her teammate Cassie, a female wolf point guard. The two were a dynamic duo on and off the court. Cassie became the assist leader for the team due to Tia's scoring and she also helped Tia with her school work. The two were a dynamic duo and East Smyrna High School seemed like the favorite school to win the state championship. Tia enjoyed every moment of it, but she soon realized that she may have had too much fun. One night, after practice, Tia and Cassie were spending sometime together, but the moment took an unfortunate turn when Tia tried to kiss Cassie. Cassie quickly pushed her away and ran away from her. Tia never felt so embarrassed. The next day, Cassie told everyone in school that Tia tried to rape her. No one believed the obvious lie, but people still treated Tia very differently. Complements turned to insults, friends turned to strangers, and the crowds of people disappeared. "Did I know she was Lesbian? Nope." Said Veronica. "I mean, Tia never really seemed interested in boys and she usually spent time with her female friends, but I never knew how serious it was." In the end, Veronica became the only person who was accepting of her sexuality. But in the state championship game, none of Tia's teammates would pass her the ball. It was a horrible display as Tia only had 6 points and the team lost by 20 points.
Despite her rough senior year, many colleges were after Tia. In the end, Tia wanted to stay close to her mother so she chose to go to Vanderbarn University and study electrical engineering. She also once again joined the school team, but the school coach wasn't all too impressed with Tia. He believed that Tia was good enough for the team, but he wanted her to get better. "He would make Tia run the most, shot the most, train the most. It was really unfair to be honest." Said a former teammate. Tia still performed well in her freshman year, but the extra pressure on her was starting to take a huge toll on her grades. She nearly failed out of the school. Still, Veronica would keep telling her the same thing every time they spoke. "You can be anything you want to be, but you can't be a quitter. You are not a quitter." It was difficult, but Tia took her mother's words to heart. Her grades slowly came up as her teammates helped tutor her, she slowly moved up to a starter as she improved in her defensive game, and finally, Tia had her final growth spurt. Now standing at 7'4", weighing at 240 pounds, and gaining a 7'8" wingspan, Vanderbarn University had their starting center.
Fun Facts:
In a close game that would decide if Vanderbarn would advance to the FCAA, Tia was hit in the muzzle and was bleeding profusely. She later came back in the fourth quarter and scored 15 points to bring her team the victory.
When she was young, Tia never liked haircuts. So Veronica gave up in trying to cut it. She still keeps her hair long and free today, but ties it down during games.
Tia is very shy and also not the most clever opossum, but she is surprisingly smart and has a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering. The Vanderbarn coach described it best when he said that Tia is "A 5 year old trapped in a giant's body".