As a young black woman growing up on the hardcore streets of North Philadelphia, you have to strive and fight for everything. The negativity and madness can grab and swallow even the most well-behaved kids. You live under the influence, and just become another stereotype talked about in the newspaper. Throughout my life, witnessing these many types of everyday situations, only made me want to better myself and show others that there is an alternate path to take. With the support of my family, positive thinking was always a factor within my life.
Unlike the outside streets of North Philly, I chose to live in a house where love, and support flourished. A home where you was pushed and encouraged to do your best. Both my mother and father were raised on the same disastrous streets and did not finish school. However they were two strong individuals who were not influenced by the norm, but was determined for their children to be something in life. They refuse for us to end up like a stereotypical North Philadelphian. They have provided both my brother, sister and I with some of the best schooling within the Philadelphia area in order for us to have a brighter future.
As parents, they showed me to always drive for the best, and being driven is a quality of being a leader. When I was enrolled into Philadelphia Performing Arts Charter School, I felt as if I was in a whole new world. It was a very diverse community, in which i was not use to. It was also much more of a positive environment other than my neighborhood. Attending elementary school in such a suitable diverse community and making new friends that i never knew that i could make influenced me even more to retain in affirmative activity and encourage me to be successful in life.
When it came to choosing high schools, everyone normally chooses the neighborhood school just to be with the in crowd, not really for the education. Myself on the other hand, decided to attend Country Day School of the Sacred Heart, a predominantly Caucasian all girls catholic school, because i felt that it was something new to experience and somewhere that i felt would increase my education. Looking outside the box and being open minded to new things is an aspect that i feel will help me to becoming successful and as being leader, because when you are a leader having an open mind is a good quality.
After receiving my education and spiritual support at CDSSH for two years, my parents could not afford for me to continue to attend anymore while raising my two siblings and I. Still only striving for the best, my parents and I refused that i attend one of my neighborhood schools and surround myself with the unacceptable activity. So from a reference of a friend i found a much cheaper high school where i would be getting a good education and surrounding myself around spiritual people, in which was John W Hallahan, another all girls school to keep focus. Hallahan was in the city , where as though CDSSH was more so in the suburbs.
I was use to the city life, but after attending Sacred Heart for 2 years it was still a transition. At sacred Heart it was pretty much all white, i was probably one of twelve African American girls within 2 years of attending there, but at Hallahan i blended in a little more better. Time passed by at Hallahan, and then just as i got comfortable it was time for me to choose another school. It was not that i wanted to choose another school, but i knew that my parents could not afford for my brother and I to both go to catholic school, so i thought that I would give him the chance that i had.
