Have you ever seen those people on the street asking for change and holding an “I‘m homeless, please help“ sign? You know those people. You look at them and think, how could they be homeless? I never thought for one moment in my life that I would be one of those people who didn‘t have a home and couldn‘t find a decent job; and in college! How am I supposed to go on to medical school when I can’t afford to survive college from one semester to the next?
Even though I can’t afford college now I do love school and there was never a moment in my life when I thought that there might be another option for me besides college. Of course earlier in my life it was because of the influence of my mother; pushing me to get a degree, but around the age of 15 I knew that I wanted to go to school in order to become the person I wanted to be. When I do get my degrees I know that I will be working in a pediatric field of medicine. I love to work with children and to help them any way I can. I think it’s due to the fact that I had a lot of pain in my younger childhood and I hate to see anyone suffer; especially children. Even if I’m just the face that they can’t remember giving them a vaccination or wrapping up their sprained ankles I’ll be doing my part.
During high school I thought that dream of me becoming a doctor would be so easy to reach. After you graduate high school and you’re offered scholarships, you have a plan, and you think that everything will work out. You don’t think about the failing economy or the lack of funding from the government. You don’t think about how that failing economy has effected your mother’s income and her savings. It never occurred to me that someday my mother would die from breast cancer, and at such a young age. Never crossed my mind that most of the money my family received from her insurance would have to go towards paying her debts. I would’ve told you that you were crazy if you told me six months ago I would now be responsible for myself and my education with no money.
I called around to family and friends, I went to banks and begged for loans, I found another job and worked. I refused to give up; but needless to say the money didn’t come in time. I wasn’t able to afford housing and I had to move out of the dorms. Not only was I homeless; now I had accumulated debt from my school too and wasn’t able to register for classes last January. Thankfully after a few weeks of being homeless a close friend found out about my situation and took me in. In six months I’ve come a long way and at this moment I’m writing this essay in my new apartment; my empty apartment with no furniture, but nonetheless it is my new home.
Most of my friends know about my situation now and they say, “Man if I was in your shoes I don’t know what I’d do.” I don’t know what I’d be doing if I wasn’t working and trying to go back to school. Summer classes start in less than two weeks and I can’t wait. I know where I belong; in the classroom educating myself to become what I know I can be. There are plenty of people who have given up and just settle, but if I let my situation control me I will not learn from this. I have been homeless and I am broke but I am not without faith in myself. I will go back to school and I will succeed.
Wow! I completely feel where your coming from because I am a recent graduate of high school, and I did not go to college right off hand. I am trying to start in January though. I feel as if everyone looks at me like I am stupid because I did not go to college, but I didnt have the money. My father barley speaks to me and my mother rather have drugs then give me one cent. I was accepted to schools and its nothing that I want more then to go to college but I ask myself...how am I going to beable to pay for everything by myself!