For anyone without hope.. Options

[*CrackedRearView*]

As many of you may know, my dad died before I was born. My mom had to work three jobs, we lived in a rickety apartment on the lower west bottoms of Kansas City, had gotten broken into on several occasions, etc.

Until recently, we'd been living in that situation. When I was 13 we had saved up a sum to move to a decent (somewhat) area. The schools still weren't all that great. Let's just say I'm thankful I've never been small and unable to defend myself.

Anyway, I took all of the AP classes the high school had to offer, and I hit the books. Eventually I settled in at school, but until that point I just studied hard and kept to myself.

Of course I came home to trouble often... my mom had abusive, drug-dealing boyfriends, she was in a losing battle with alcoholism, she got several DUIs and and totaled our car.

Senior year rolls around and I punch the SAT and ACT in the face, and it's like a breath of fresh air... I'm telling you guys -- any of you that may be in a bad situation, or don't have any hope of moving past what you've always known, take it from me.

I wrote a 'killer', empathy-inducing entrance essay about my life and why my determination should allow my acceptance, tacked on my standardized test scores, and I'll now be on scholarship to Cornell University...

My principal asked me to give a speech at my high school and a few other area high schools about my situation and how easy it is to overcome one like it, so I figured, why not share it with those great cB people? I just felt like I should share this because I've felt like giving up before, and I want to prevent others from giving up.

[angel-roh]

wow a very true inspiring story, justin! wow... that just gived me the chills. you're luck that you never gived up, and just kept going even though you had difficulty times in your life. im glad to hear that you never gived up. that's a very good healthy thought. wow yours is like worse than mine... and im troubling in school too. yeah i never give up on school stuff because i know God has plans for me later in the future, so i keep going and what he has set for me in my life. hehe giving up is not a fun thing because you will regret it later in the future. but you never did, so good job, justin!! yeah you're very talented..with the charcoal drawings and the intellegience of your writings! i actually loved and adore your writings! you're very talented and really great to hear that you sharing it to us! but i didnt really know what was happening to your life, but great to hear that you're doing fine and staying strong. so what are you major at now?