Growing up in my house was not easy. I had a dad that was gone most of the time, and a mother who had a lot of issues with alcohol. Both of these things affected me a lot, but by the time that I was 19 years old and you that I need to take matters in my own hand to save myself. I started looking for apartments in South Charlotte as soon as I could so that I could try to get away from the disfunction going on in my home. Around the age of 18, I realize that if I stayed living with my parents much longer, I was going to learn to be like them. That is not the way that I wanted to spend the rest of my life.

I think that my parents were relieved when I told that I meant that I was going to look for my own place. One of the things that really helped, is that my father said that he would help me with my first year’s rent. I knew this would go a long way toward me succeeding with moving out of the house. What are the things that I help for is that moving out would let me be able to focus on school and a better job for myself. I have been working at a grocery store, and I wanted something better for myself.

Once I moved out of the house, I felt a lot better about the world in general. I learned that not everyone has a family like I do. A lot of people are healthy and mature. Being around new people helped me to see what I need to do in life to get to a better place myself. I want to make something of myself in this world.