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.