By Terreil Colon Growing up in difficult circumstances can teach you lessons that you can use for your entire life. While I have endured numerous challenges and overcome many obstacles in life, the biggest challenge I faced growing up was the time my mother, four siblings, and I stayed at a shelter for almost a year when I was nearly the age of eleven. This was a significant obstacle that I felt set me back in life, but now looking back I am able to see it as a moral lesson to take advantage of. Because of how difficult life was for my mother as a single mother and in general, we lived in a shelter. We always remained in the hopeful expectation that we would one day be capable of leaving. During the time I spent there with my family, I learned to become more patient. While we were in the shelter, and even since being able to leave the shelter, it was my job to help take care of not only myself, but my four siblings as well. I felt it was my responsibility because I am the oldest. In the shelter, people are not able to just come and go as you please or even eat a meal whenever they want to. As expected from a shelter, the rooms aren't particularly roomy. There was a curfew and expectation for us to be in our rooms by 8:30 PM each day. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner were served during set time frames. If you missed the serving time frame, you missed the food. All of this together gave me the impression that I was in jail because I could not do what I wanted whenever I wanted. My mother worked to get Section 8 housing assistance to help us move into a house. This process took more than seven months, it wasn't just a matter of submitting paperwork and being admitted. We were put on a waiting list amongst many other people waiting to be helped. It took a while to get off the waiting list and into a house that was ours. Because of the lessons I’ve learned through this experience, I have become persistent, laser-focused, and constantly moving forward. These are qualities that have helped me and will continue to be helpful as I move forward in my life. These traits can help me gain from college because they not only help me improve as a student but also as a person. Another lesson I have learned while living in the shelter is how people lean on each other for moral support and help when needed. My mother was a form of hope for me and my siblings. She showed us that we would make it through the rough times we dealt with by supporting each other and being there for one another. My academic advisers are another group of people I can trust and count on since they guide me in the proper direction and inspire me to complete the necessary tasks. I applied these lessons to my life upon beginning my senior year at a new high school. Initially, it was difficult for me to become talkative and open to people. But before long I found myself a great set of friends, on whom I now rely on, and in turn they rely on me. I consider them to be my second family in a huge way since we have all supported one another through good times and bad, much like my mother, my siblings and I did for each other in the shelter and still do even now.
4 Comments
Marlene Blocker
1/3/2023 12:57:52 pm
Great to see you recognize that through hard times there are still benefits. Your Mom has raised you to be be a fine young man and your sense of responsibility is wonderful to hear about! Stay strong!!
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Lynn Girven
1/3/2023 02:35:27 pm
You endured a difficult situation, and now you are stronger. Proud of your spirit.
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Linda Dunsmoor
1/4/2023 11:47:21 am
This was very moving to read. Thank you.
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Ginny Ryan
1/8/2023 06:01:19 pm
Bravo! You didn’t simply survive- you have thrived. Your experiences will serve you well.
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