My Life

Growing up I never had much, Being the oldest of five siblings with a single parent. So as I grew up I always imagined for my future that I would straight into the workforce to help out my mom. Midway through 8th grade that all changed. At the time we were homeless, living in a motel when CPS (child protective services) separated all five of my siblings from my mom. Within a week of being in A group home they put me in, I know that I had to be better than my mom and my surroundings, so I made a promise to myself to go to college no matter what                   I wanted to make not only my life better but my future family’s life better than what I experienced growing up.

The  first step was to focus on myself for the first time of my life. At first, I was just trying to survive the group homes in which I was placed, as most of the teens there were serving probation, some for violent crimes. I was also worried  about my family,  as I would not see any of them for months at a time. After 6 long months my grandmother received custody of me, which started the next stage of my life. After a period of adjustment at my grandmother's house I slowly came to realize that I had only one goal for the next 8 years --- to graduate from college, For many others, this is a simple goal and would not be a big deal, but  for me it would be a tremendous achievement. No one expected me to go to college, so with that Goal in mind I started High School.   

Freshman and Sophomore years were tough for me as I wasn't totally focused on school, as my personal life  was in turmoil with my siblings and their situations.  My lack of focus was showing in my grades as I struggled to pass some of my classes freshman year. Going into Sophomore year I was the same lazy student who wouldn’t do homework or wouldn't stay after school and didn't even join any clubs and did not focus on school . My struggle hit a new low as I actually failed one of my classes that year and had attend summer school.

Going to summer school was one of the biggest wake up calls of my life as I realized I wasn’t only letting myself down but also the promise I had made to my siblings. So at the beginning of junior year I stopped making excuses and put in the work, by staying after school after school every Wednesday to get help in all of my classes. Though  my grades fluctuated throughout  the year  I still finished with the best grades of my life while taking my hardest classes of my life. This gave me growing  confidence for my senior year. As when it came down to schedule classes , I decided to challenge  myself again and take harder classes than I did my junior year. I have no doubt that I will again have my grades and improve from the previous year and continue my upward progression and keep my promise to my family.