Growing up, I always had one parent raising my two siblings and me. I never interrogated my mother about why she chose to raise three, crazy, moronic but well mannered children all on her own. In other words, I never had a father-figure in my life. Not having a father in my life did not phase me until I saw my mother struggling to pull through life. Of course, she was able to raise three exquisite children, including I, independently but even that was inadequate. As my mother came close to success, close to having a pictured-perfect family portrait, close to being economically stable, the world seemed to slip away from her grip. My brother disobeyed the law numerous times to the point where the law exiled him from this country. My sister followed his footsteps. Though she did not get deported, she attempted suicide, more than I could imagine for a young girl. As if the problems were not enough, my sister decided to bring a new-born baby to this world. Following those predicaments, my mother lost her job. She remains unemployed to this day. Seeing what my mother had to go through had made me become my own individual person. I started to do labor at the age of 15, barely entering high school. As I strived to return the favor to my amazing mother, I began to go downhill myself. Amateur about life, I thought, while having a job and working during high school, would be a piece of cake. I thought I was going to be able to keep my ‘legitimate’, passing grades up. I thought I was going to be involved with outside activities, in school activities, community service, etcetera. I thought I was going to fully reach my goal. At least I was not a complete failure. However, my struggles with school and my struggles with my own personal life pushed me to keep going, to persevere. My mother also has given me the strength to stand back up on my own two feet. Witnessing her surpass through all her chaotic predicaments, conditioned me to mature and become independent. Becoming independent did not necessarily mean neglect my family and move on with my life. In other words, I have to appreciate every little thing that I have and mitigate any negativity that I have soaked in in me. Dwelling and remaining in the same, one spot will not help me get any closer to my goal. My goal is to fulfill my mother’s life with happiness and demonstrate to her that all of her hard work did not go to waste, that she raised her children for a reason. I want to prove to her that her tremendous optimism and brilliant strength has given me the opportunity to strive through any hardships. As cheesy and cliche as this may sound, my mother is my inspiration and my aspiration. Without her existence in my life, I would not be able to overcome all of those obstacles and challenges that has been laid upon me. Even though I do not express my feelings and emotions as much as I did when I was a young, little, naive girl, I do truly love my mother to death. I did not need the typical, nuclear family. My mother was able to manage to support herself, my siblings, and I, financially. Though, she is unemployed at the moment, I have been supporting myself, partially, throughout my four years in high school. I did not want to burden my mother with other expenses when I knew there were other ways to financially support my education. I worked throughout my high school years and I signed myself up for fee waivers to reduce any additional expenses. Now that I’m in college, it’s no different. I still work and now I’m in the process of completing my FAFSA. I’m also trying to find other alternatives to cover my other school, miscellaneous expenses. Finding ways to minimize working multiple jobs may be quite difficult, but I am highly aware that all of this, my hard work, will eventually pay off.

Excuse my grammar mistakes. Life goes on.