When I was younger, my father got arrested inside our home. He had some drug issues going on at the time, and that ended up resulting in the involvement of the authorities. Once he was released and came back home, I could not look at him the same knowing what he was involved with. However, the person it affected the most was my mother. She decided to ask for a divorce after my father got out of jail so that he could leave our family alone. This caused my dad to leave for Mexico, and would not give my mom any type of help in the financial aspect when it came to my brother and I. He seemed to have resigned from the role of being our father and did not care what happened to us in general. Being from a low-income household, I saw how much my mother was struggling to do it all by herself. There would be days when we would have to walk around in the dark because of the power being cut due to late payments. She was trying her best to just stay on track with the bills as well as with our childhoods. I would see how my mother's heart was getting shattered into little pieces after not being able to give us the gifts we wanted for our birthdays and Christmas. When it came to feasting holidays, like Easter and Thanksgiving, my mom would not be able to provide us with those big meals you see on TV. Growing up this way was not on my mom, as she tried her best, and I will forever love her for that. She is the best mother I could have asked for, and because of her my brother and I had a roof over our heads every single night. After seeing her struggles, I promised myself that my future children were not going to grow up this way. I also made a promise to myself that once I could afford to do so, my mom would not have to work another day. She is currently in a lot of debt, and she is still trying to make it possible that I can attend a very nice college. I want to give back and reward her for all of the efforts that she made not because she had to, but because she wanted to try and give my brother and I the most normal childhood possible without having our father figure in the picture. How did this impact my academic and career ambitions? My father has taught me what steps not to take. I will use him as an example and do the complete opposite. I will be able to provide for my future family, myself, and most importantly, my mom who is long overdue for some type of compensation.