Wale

"One day, you'll be just like them." These words echoed through my head whenever I experience a conflict of decisions.
As a young child, I didn't have it as easy as most kids in my hometown. My parents divorced before I even turned one and it's been twelve years since I've seen my father's face. Everyday since he left has been a struggle for my family to get by. There were plenty of nights that I would be at home with my mom when she was upset, lonely, and felt helpless. My older brothers and sisters dealt with the problem of my father leaving by turning to hard alcohol and drugs as teenagers. I am the youngest of eight children so I experienced countless weekend nights of waking up to my mom arguing with my siblings. They often came home drunk or high and would say terrible things to my mom.
These nights always seemed to end the same. I would try to comfort my crying mother, although I was just a little kid. She would then respond with what she assumed was true, "Oh don't worry, I bet one day, you'll treat me just like them. You'll end up just like your father and siblings." Well after hearing these words enough, they stuck with me.
Once I got older, I became exposed to the same things that my siblings were in my town. However, I remembered what my mother always predicted. Whenever I faced a conflict of decisions, I realized that I don't want to end up like my father and siblings. I abandoned much of my social life and athletic career to take up job opportunities and help my mom pay the bills every month. I had the ambition to not give into temptations.
Along the way, I realized that there were other people in the world with similar problems of my own. My heroes have become artists like J. Cole, Wale, and Kendrick Lamar. They tell stories that I relate to everyday and helped me get through some rough times.
Now I'm 17, and I've earned a full ride scholarship to St. John's University and have been accepted to a few other schools. I think I have become more wise than most kids my age. When I received the letter from St. John's about my scholarship, my mom hugged me and thanked me for all my hard work. She said that she had been very anxious lately about how to pay for my college education. I feel proud to have relieved her of at least one worry in her life. I hope I helped my mom realize that I'm not "just like them." Thanks for helping me along the way Wale.