I am the first in my family to ever attend a 4 year university. Before my father earned his GED in prison, he had an education of a seventh grader. My mother did have a chance to go to college but she ended up pregnant. It is a huge accomplishment for me to even graduate high school because neither of my brothers did. My eldest brother graduated from a continuation school and a few years after his graduation he went to a community college. He would have went to a university but was stopped. My eldest brother suffers from drug addiction and sadly though he is brilliant and bright has not been able to go far in his life because of his addiction. T
here is no one that can guide me in my family. There is no one that knows what college life will even be like. There is no one that has ever left on their own. I am the first. I am the first to graduate from an actual high school. I am the first to go from high school to a university. I am the first that will leave to college and dorm. I am the first and i proud.
All of my life they expected me to turn out like my brothers and end up in juvenile hall or turn out like my mom and end up pregnant. I was never expected to go to the university i will be attending to next year. I was not smart enough. I did not come from the right family. I had no potential. I will never achieve anything in life. I was not going to graduate. I was not going to get into a university.
Well… i did graduate and i did get into a great university. I am smart enough. I do have the determination. I am the first but i will not be the last. I have to set an example for my sister. She will never hear the words that i have. She will hear that she can do anything that she sets her mind to do. Despite the family that we come from. Despite how others may look at us. Despite all the discrimination and the obstacles we may face. I can do it and so can she.
I will be attending the University of California Santa Cruz. It is not a cheap school and i cannot afford this school. However, that has not stopped me from going there and that will not stop me from anything else. I was not expected to make anything of myself but i attend to prove everyone wrong and achieve that goal.