Being a child of a convicted felon always made me wonder, since my parent is in prison does that make me a bad person since I’m related to them? Growing up I always felt like a black sleep when my classmates would talk about their married parents. I would constantly avoid the topic of parents because it would make me highly uncomfortable. Mentioning my father was in prison was very embarrassing for me. Everyone would question “Tiana why don’t you ever mention your dad” I would always answer back “I rather not mention it”. Seeing my classmates having their father for their most vital events in life constantly made me question why I have a dad that can’t physically be here. Daddy's daughter dances, 6th-grade graduation, sports events, multiple birthdays and even me just simply losing my first tooth he was absent. Since I was so young during this it was hard to mentally grasp why and how he got put into prison, I would always ask but my question would get shot down. This experience in life made me understand that your actions in the past don’t define you as a person now. Having my father being in prison on multiple occasions made me understand as I grew into adulthood that he wasn’t overall a bad person, he just made poor decisions that cost him great consequences. Another thing that having an incarcerated parent has taught me is independence. With my mother being a single parent her whole world has revolved around me especially since I’m her only child I’ve always felt the need to relieve the financial burden and mental stress my mother had to endure to make sure she maintained a living for us. With this being said I started working rather young at 14 by choice not necessarily cause I had to but so I can be more independent for myself. I maintained a job throughout high school working to buy the extra things I wanted to have. I started a pharmacy technician class my senior year and took the certification exam this past June and passed my first go around. With this, I enrolled as a Full-time Student pursuing psychology at Tarrant county community college and as well as working full-time hours as a pharmacy technician at a hospital. With these responsibilities, I continued to maintain a 3.8 GPA. My plans this fall are to attend Texas Tech University and obtain my Bachelor's in the science of psychology to apply for med school. Additionally having my father incarcerated pushes me to be the turnaround in my family. I’m grateful and look at the brighter side of having a once-incarcerated parent because without him I wouldn’t be the determined headstrong Black Woman I am today.