Growing up was nothing but struggle after struggle. I was put into a private school when I was 4 years old. The school was full of kids who looked like me but looked at me differently because I talked a little differently than them. The school had to make all sorts of accommodations for me. They didn’t have but one teacher who spoke Spanish that could help me. I felt lost at such a young age. It’s like there was this wall between me and everyone else. The one place where everyone is supposed to feel safe and make friends made me feel like an outcast. I talked to my teacher about it and she told me one thing that just stuck with me. She said that in the end, all the work I put in would pay off. I took that as I would finally catch up when in reality she was talking about the benefits that would come from it and the people that I could help would double. No matter the struggles that we went through together she never gave up on me. She was the teacher who helped me “fit in” in school. Despite the struggle of bouncing from house to house, and never really having a set schedule she would always make sure that I understood everything that was going on. She made me fall in love with school when I never thought that I would. Later in life things would get harder and it would come right out of the blue. The summer going into my junior year could not have been going better. I was living the perfect life. I had worked very hard to make my way onto the starting varsity position. I had the greatest friends, was making my own money, and had the best home life. Little did I know that this would change in an instant. I was living at home with my mom, stepdad, 3-year-old sister, 2-year-old brother, and my 14-year-old brother. My mom and stepdad had started to argue a lot more and were rarely home. Being that I was the oldest it fell on me to take care of everyone. At first, it wasn’t bad but then they were staying out later and money got tighter. Deadlines got closer and before long I was mentally and physically exhausted. Towards the end of our season, we had a practice like always and no one knows exactly what happened but one thing led to another, and the next thing you know that strong varsity athlete that never let anything get to her was on the floor crying. It was to the point I was hyperventilating. However, it wasn’t that moment that was important. It was what happened just a few seconds after. I felt a tug on my shirt, then my arm. Next thing I knew off the floor and in the coach's office. She told me to talk. That everything I said for the next 10 minutes was completely confidential and would never be brought up again. Everything just poured out of me like a waterfall. The tears were still rolling down my face, my words were hard to understand because I still haven't caught my breath entirely but the most important thing was that there was someone just listening. It was the moment that would solidify my decision to be a teacher. I believe everyone should have a person to stand in their corner and believe in them. Even if they don't believe in themselves.