At-Risk youth is an umbrella term used to describe a group of adolescents who grow up with low socioeconomic statuses, dysfunctional families, poor education opportunities, or may fall into a minority category. With the label of at-risk youth comes along a multitude of assumed outcomes for this adolescents. This list includes: drug abuse, increased chance of juvenile delinquency, less likely to succeed into adult transition, lower educational skills, dropping out of school and teenage pregnancy.

I was unaware of this assumption of youth who grow up in those situations. I was even less aware I fit into the category until I was in college and I took a psychology course on juvenile delinquency.

I moved into the Waterville Housing Authority apartment complex when I was eight-years-old. My brother was only three. There were many other kids there and I was able to start my new life fairly quickly. I made friends with most of the kids who were also growing up in the projects. The Waterville Housing Authority is a state-regulated program that provides housing to low-income families. The rent of the apartment was based on the income of anyone over 18 who was living in the apartment.

I was lucky to have a mother who tried her hardest to give my brother and me a good upbringing. Other kids I lived around weren’t always so fortunate. I would watch kids running around the parking lot over or under dressed for the weather without a parent in sight. I would listen to children throwing around hate speech and swearing like it was no big deal. I witnessed more than one drug deal in the 12 years I lived there. There were cops at the complex at least once a week dealing with delinquent children and teenagers or breaking up physical fights between neighbors.

When I took my first classes on at-risk youth I learned that I had dodged a bullet growing up where I did and turning out how I did. There were a set of expectations given to youth who grew up the way I had. The “expectations” of those living in the projects (as they were called around town) are simple. The messages implicit in these expectations were as follows. Don’t succeed. Get into fights. Start smoking at a young age. Start drinking at an even younger age. Misbehave in school. Get bad grades. Get pregnant. Drop out. Be aware that you won’t succeed no matter what you do because there’s no such thing as breaking out of the circumstances put over my head like a rain cloud threatening to storm at any moment. I beat these expectations. I received straight A’s and B’s throughout my entire schooling career. I only went to one party in high school (after my parents caught me and I never went to another). I graduated 12th in my class. I was never sent to the principal’s office. I didn’t have a baby. People say I was lucky to overcome the risks faced by those growing up in my neighborhood. What makes me lucky though? The fact that I had a normal life as a teenager? Or the fact that I was an at-risk youth who didn’t succumb to the circumstances presented to me?

I have my parents to thank for that. I wasn’t aware of how hard it was for my mom until I was older. I didn’t understand what food stamps were. I didn’t understand why I got to go to summer camp for free every year. My parents divorced right before we moved into the apartment complex, but my dad was always a big part of my life. He would come see us pretty much every day. We would go out to eat as a family. He would attend all the school functions.

I grew up an at-risk youth without even knowing it. And now it has brought me to a career path where I think I can make a real difference. I overcame so many odds that were stacked against me. I graduated high school. Hell, I graduated college. I start my first day of graduate school on August 30th. I will be going for the social work program. I only hope that one day my future will be helping at-risk youth, to be the one that shows them they don’t have to fall victim to the odds placed on them.