My personal experience with substance abuse came at a very unexpected time. I had grew up with only my mother. I had saw my father on occasions when I would visit my siblings on his side. It wasn't until I was 9, my father moved back in with us. I was very excited because I finally felt happy enough to say I lived with my mom and dad. I always felt weird or left out when I would only have my mother show up to school events and I would compare myself to my friends who had both parents. It wasn't until a couple weeks of him moving in I realized he was heavily addicted to drinking beer. At first, I tried to just persuade him to not drink as much. I quickly realized that when he would drink, it would affect his ability to do simple tasks and would cause him to turn into a mean person. Everything was great with the move but me and my dad would get into more and more arguments. When he was sober, it felt like he was my best friend. Then when he would drink he would turn and say hurtful mean things to me. I would dismiss the insults he would call me and act like I didn't care. After a while, those comments did began to effect me. I started to feel feelings of depression and hatred towards him. I would repeat the things he said to me at night and just cry. I would wonder why did he have to come live with us if he was just going to make everything worse. I also noticed how his addiction effected his ability to work. He would constantly get fired from either showing up drunk or just not showing up at all. I was always upset in middle school because I couldn't get new shoes every few months or new clothes like everyone else did. I felt very insecure in my looks and clothing. My father did nothing but add onto these insecurities throughout the year. I always would be upset because my friends would be able to play an instrument or join a sport. It had been my dream since 3rd grade to run track once I got to middle school. I was always told no because we didn't have the money, and my mom didn't work because of her disability so we were depending on him for extra money. Towards the end of 6th grade, we had to move into something more affordable. I was heartbroken because I had finally made a lot of friends. He moved out after an altercation with him and my mother. I was still left with all the trauma and was severely depressed in 7th grade. When I was 12, I realized that no one would be able to help me with college. I began to work really hard in school making straight A's for the first time. I'm a senior now and in less than 3 years I managed to finish all my credits with a 4.4 and almost 30 college credits with a 3.8. I work as hard as I do because my experiences have made me want to have a better life than what I grew up with. I want to be able to give my future children the world. I never want to stress about not having enough money or having my children feel like they missed out on life. My career will be in Forensic psychiatry and I will be the first in my family to overcome poverty!

A little about me is that I'm only 17 but ever since I was younger I have always had big dreams and goals for myself. Growing up, it was hard for my family financially because of my mother's disability and unsupportive family. There have been times when we have been homeless or struggling for quite a while. I grew up seeing all the adults around me make the wrong decisions. Since I was a little girl, I have always been observant and knew what I wanted. When I was 12, a lot of things had changed my view of life. My father was manipulative and an alcoholic, I saw how everyone in my family managed to struggle with money. I knew that I wanted to be better. I also knew that I would have no to pay my way through college, I would need to depend on myself and do my best during my school years. Since I came to that realization, I have tried to make nothing but straight A's. I managed to do it all three years of high school. My journey of keeping myself in line has not been easy. Everything that I had witnessed and been through at a young age constantly negatively affected my mental health and my ability to want to go to school. Throughout the past few years, I have pushed myself, sometimes feeling burnt out, but knowing that everything I do now is going to set me up in the future for success. I would go to school and then straight to work just so I could start saving. My mother never had a car so I was determined to have a way back and forth from work and school without having to depend on Uber or other people, so I was able to save $4000 and purchased my first car this year in February! In 9th and 10th grade, I was enrolled in pre-IB, which allowed me to complete all my required math and science courses. When I began 11th grade, I enrolled in dual enrollment so I could get a jump start on college.I have taken most of my prerequisites for the program I planning to attend. I am an upcoming senior who plans to graduate in December. I want to obtain my associate's degree in Medical Sonography and my bachelors in Mental Health Psychiatry. I would use this money to be able to pay for my first-year tuition, program, and uniform costs. Whatever I have that is left over I plan to put in a high-yield savings account so I can be prepared for University! This money would allow me to live my dreams and be able to show that someone in my family can be educated and do good for themselves!