Together We Can
1
I was merely a child, too young to grasp the gravity of the situation, when my family went through its deepest crisis. It forced me to grow up faster than most—a lot of the time, I had to do things for myself. My mother and father divorced when I was three, and my life has not been the same since. My mind filled with confusion and infinite questions, since I was too young to understand the situation at the time. Coming from a broken home, I wondered why I was not able to enjoy certain luxuries that other families could, although I was privileged enough to go to a private school through scholarships. My father did not pay child support. My mom had to work three jobs just to afford the price of living for us. Moreover, even though we barely had enough to provide for ourselves, we always did what we could, above and beyond, for others. Recently, much like most families in this nation, mine was affected drastically by the crisis we are in now. Although my family was not one to live in wealth before, we had to reconstruct the way we lived our lives. Even though my mother and I did not have much, there were many opportunities given to us. We were offered the chance to excel and flourish in order to live a prosperous life, and having come from what little we came from, this was golden. However, after our country went into recession, we again had to adjust. Our income was limited and almost entirely committed to bills, but having experienced a humble life before had prepared us well.
What our country has undergone in these recent years is not the end or the closing of any door, but the opening of many others—the opening of a smarter, more conserving lifestyle that we all need to adapt to. Together, I believe that we can do it. Maybe this crisis was necessary for our fellow citizens to wake up and confront the situation that our world as a whole is in, in a more intelligent way. Maybe this was the opening of many eyes, that with even the slightest 2
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I was merely a child, too young to grasp the gravity of the situation, when my family went through its deepest crisis. It forced me to grow up faster than most—a lot of the time, I had to do things for myself. My mother and father divorced when I was three, and my life has not been the same since. My mind filled with confusion and infinite questions, since I was too young to understand the situation at the time. Coming from a broken home, I wondered why I was not able to enjoy certain luxuries that other families could, although I was privileged enough to go to a private school through scholarships. My father did not pay child support. My mom had to work three jobs just to afford the price of living for us. Moreover, even though we barely had enough to provide for ourselves, we always did what we could, above and beyond, for others. Recently, much like most families in this nation, mine was affected drastically by the crisis we are in now. Although my family was not one to live in wealth before, we had to reconstruct the way we lived our lives. Even though my mother and I did not have much, there were many opportunities given to us. We were offered the chance to excel and flourish in order to live a prosperous life, and having come from what little we came from, this was golden. However, after our country went into recession, we again had to adjust. Our income was limited and almost entirely committed to bills, but having experienced a humble life before had prepared us well.
What our country has undergone in these recent years is not the end or the closing of any door, but the opening of many others—the opening of a smarter, more conserving lifestyle that we all need to adapt to. Together, I believe that we can do it. Maybe this crisis was necessary for our fellow citizens to wake up and confront the situation that our world as a whole is in, in a more intelligent way. Maybe this was the opening of many eyes, that with even the slightest 2
of