Personal Essay

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Overall, I trust people more now that I know more about their backgrounds, personality and culture.

I never had a father figure but that didn’t stop me from becoming a man. I grew up at an early age…my mom taught me how to be strong, ambitious, brave, and caring, which are all the qualities I think a man should have. There’s one incident in particular that catches my attention when I think about becoming a man. Well, the day was hot, humid and I just arrived from school, PS.33. I was in the fifth grade and I thought I was all grown up since I was able to walk home from school by myself. Arriving home was the worst thing I did that day. I approached my door and I realized there was a notice. I became addled by the words “marshal” and “property;” I was too young to comprehend what had happened. I knocked on the door and no there was no response. I had nowhere to go and no way to contact my mother. My mom wasn’t home and I didn’t know why. I instantaneously stepped outside and waited outside my apartment building. Sitting on the stoop in front of my building I watched people go by and at that moment, I started crying like if my mother was never coming back.

I envisioned the Power Rangers would come and sort my problem out but it never happened. The neighbors were the ones who told me what happened. One lady kept saying, “Do you see what welfare does to you?” Money is what locked me outside of my own house right after school. Money was also what drove my mother away from me. From a distance, I could see my aunt telling me