I grew up poor and I’m not ashamed. I’m blessed now.

Growing up poor has got to be one of the biggest barriers in childhood. I never really understood why out of everyone, my family had to be the one who was “less fortunate”. I hated that. Sometimes people pitied my family or felt that we were always going to ask them for money or something just because we had less.

My mom was a single parent and she struggled a lot of the time trying to raise four children all on her own. I’ll give it to you, we didn’t have any luxurious Christmas’ or tons of presents because we couldn’t even afford a Christmas tree in the very small studio we lived in. Instead, we went to the Salvation Army during Christmas season and we got free presents there. We didn’t get whatever we wanted when we went to the store and we didn’t throw tantrums because of it. We never had any of the latest trends whether it was shoes or clothing because all of our clothing was bought from a second hand store, and often times my mom would buy my brother and I the same clothing, since girl clothing was slightly more expensive. I was always dressed like a boy. My brothers and I knew my mom was struggling so we never nagged about why we couldn’t have what our friends had even though we silently hated our lives. My mom prioritized the money we had for our food and rent, and whatever we had left over would be for us to spend. More than half of the time, it wasn’t really enough to buy all four of us a good toy or anything worthwhile, so we would get junk food instead. The good ol’ days when two dollars bought everyone a bag of chips, juice, and candy.

Because we only had enough money for what was actually important, we knew ballet classes, any sports leagues, or other extracurricular activities were going to be a solid no. Instead, if we behaved and were lucky enough to find my mom in a good mood, she would let us play outside after school with the rest of the kids on the block. This was our favorite pass time. We would play hide and seek or tag until night time came and el cuñado would come and we would buy corn and other Mexican goodies, if we could. When we weren’t playing outside, we spent our days inside with mom, either cleaning the house, doing homework, or watching T.V. And when I say we stayed in watching T.V, I don’t mean watching all the 500 channels that most people had on their TVs with cable and all, I mean we watched TV with maybe 20 channels and half of the time hoped something good was on, otherwise we’d seriously be screwed.

I like to believe that God doesn’t give you more than you can handle. Even though my family didn’t have everything we wanted, we had everything we needed and I will forever be thankful for that. After school I had a home to go to, food to eat, a bed to sleep on, and clean clothes to wear the next day. Things lots of us take for granted whether we want to admit it or not. Besides all of our struggles, being poor taught me so many things about life. One of them was knowing that if you work hard for what you want, anything and everything is possible.

Being less fortunate was to some extent the reason to why I had to grow up very quickly. I got a job as soon as possible and I started helping my mom out with bills while still attending school and trying to better myself. It wasn’t as easy as I’m making it seem. There were many times where I just wanted to quit life, but that really wasn't an option. I learned that if you fall 10 times, you have to get up 11, even if you're the one picking yourself up. No one in this world holds your hand and tells you that everything is going to be okay, so you just have to believe that for yourself. I did and still do.

I am now twenty years old and attend a very prestigious college. I graduated high school with very well earned grades and a high GPA. I am the first of my family continue to a higher education and *fingers crossed* will be the first to bring our very first college diploma home! I have had three different jobs since I have started working and am currently about to start a new one which I am really excited for. I now look down to my hands and I have the latest iPhone, name brand shoes on my feet, and girly clothes that weren’t bought at a second hand shop. I can afford to go out to eat and do fun stuff with my friends once in awhile. My life is not perfect, but looking back to where I started, I have come a long way. I owe it all to my mother and myself. My hard work and dedication to not let my past define me has allowed me to strive well beyond everyone’s expectations. My mother, I thank her for teaching me that in this world you can't sit on your ass and hope that someone offers you a job or hope to start a career out of nothing. You have to get up every day and act as if you're still poor because that's the only way you'll achieve what you want. I still struggle, but I never let my guard down. I continue to do anything that is in my power to continue to blossom into the adult I want to become with a great career I wish to pursue. All in God’s time and all with hard work. You will get there if you want to be.

I want to finish by saying that if you identified with this article, you are not alone. There will be many who cannot, but this is something that makes us part of who we are and that will never change, even if we want it to. We can just learn to better ourselves and hope for a better future for our families. When you do feel like you have blossomed into the person you've always wanted to be, never walk around like you were never poor. Stay

humble and grateful for everything you have now and everything you will have later. Stay blessed.