One horrible circumstance in my personal life has affected my achievements in school. Experiencing job loss and foreclosure is an experience that nobody should have to go through as a teenager. Over the last decade my family has been experience very low times. It started when my mother lost her first job 9 years ago. It was extremely hard for her to find work anywhere. She was unemployed for 2 years before she was able to find a new job working for the state of Michigan. Then almost as soon as she found the job, she lost it again. She got pink slipped while she was on medical leave in 2012.
With my mom unable to keep a consistent job it affected me greatly. Seeing her struggle to provide for me and while trying to put my sister through college began to take a toll on me personally. I became depressed to the point where I didn’t want to attend school. Dropping out of school seemed like my only option. I gave up. My dreams were fading and my grades were beginning to reflect how I felt. My stress grew more and more each day and all these things compounded when I found out our house was in foreclosure.
Once my mom found a job at a hotel, we were able to get back on our feet a little bit. Working at the hotel was difficult for the both of us. She was working third shift and I couldn’t see her as much as I was used to. She wasn’t able to attend my volleyball games, help me with my homework, or even just sit and have a conversation with me. She would get off work at 7 am just in time to take me to school, and then she would go home and sleep the whole day. Realizing quickly that she was unhappy, she began to look for another job. After an extensive search that lasted many months, she finally found a position that she loves.
Unfortunately, by the time she found this new job, it was too late. Foreclosure of our house was already set in motion. Although this was upset, my mother did not give up trying to save the house I grew up in for over 12 years. My mother has always been strong willed and it hurt me to see her break down like this. Eventually we lost my childhood home in November 2015 right at the start of my senior year. We had to move in with my grandmother and I continued my final year of high school feeling displaced.
Enduring this experience so far has made my senior year extra difficult and tremendously stressful. Not only do I now have to maintain my grades and concentrate on school, but I’m also constantly worrying about our next move. Although this is a challenging time for me right now, I know that in order to get out of the struggle I have to be successful in school. I have experienced times recently where I really want to drop out, because of the overwhelming pressure to do well and help out at home. Going through the trials of the past years has shown me the importance of being successful. I want to work hard for what I want, pushing myself every step of the way. My continued determination to finish school and attend college has helped me to overcome this obstacle in my personal life.
