Looking back on my life so far, nothing touched me more than when my mom would tell me to stay out of trouble. Back then, I didn’t really pay much attention, but I guess subconsciously her words embedded themselves into my brain. My mom was the epitome of the classic black woman starting from nothing and becoming successful in her life. She graduated high school with a baby on the way and no one to support her but my convict of a father. Once they separated, my mom got her life together slowly while raising two bad children in a bad neighborhood. And one thing she would always do is come in my room and tell her story to me and my brother so we could learn from her mistakes and understand that we could be great as long as we utilize our opportunities and make the best of what you have. A community I am part of would be the black community but if I were to think small, I could say that I was part of my neighborhood community because we were all kind of the same; A bunch of black kids in a bad neighborhood trying to make the best of a situation. My mom’s stories and the lessons she taught me shaped me into the person I’ve become.

         One of the most memorable things about my past would probably be when I was in the 8th grade and I got into probably the most trouble I’ve ever been in. Before high school, I wasn’t really the best kid a parent could want. It seemed like I never could stay out of trouble in school and around the neighborhood.  I had to realize the hard way that there were consequences for my actions and my mom was always right there to tell me how I needed to improve. My mom used to tell me how my dad had a mindset of a criminal and that she never wanted to see me end up like him. Normally, when she said things like this, I just kind of brushed it to the side and kept on doing whatever I wanted. But one night, her words of wisdom were all I could think about as I sat in the back of a police car along with my 2 friends. I used to hang out with people who did anything to get money. We would steal from houses and sell weed in the neighborhood. My mom never knew what exactly I was up to, but she had sort of an intuition that the crowd I would surround myself with were not up to any good. I remember her saying “Don’t put yourself into any situations that could even cause you to get into trouble”. Then I messed around and got caught with something in my book bag that a 14-year-old boy should never be around. I was in the back of a police car and I’ll never forget when the officer said, “aren’t you ___ Son?” My heart sank like a rock. Every single warning my mom ever said to me began racing through my mind. I knew that she would be beyond disappointed with me because she raised me to be better than that and always would try to make sure that I deviated away from the lifestyle she went through. After a long wait, I could see my mom walking up and talking to the police officer. I wanted to cry but I held it together. I got lucky because my mom knew the officer and he let me go. Now when I tell you I was terrified of going home, because my mom doesn’t play when it comes to that. I got home and received the longest speech from my mom I’ve ever gotten. But this time I actually listened and every word touched me in a way that changed my life forever. Of course, I got put on punishment for like forever. But the way that she spoke made the room shake. She was yelling at me at the top of her lungs and flailing her arms around in disbelief.

         After that day, I removed myself from the friends I was hanging out with and proved to my mom that I changed as a person. It was tough because I would obviously see them around but after school I started walking straight home and staying inside and during school I would sit by myself, almost hiding from them. It took some time but I feel like without going through that experience I would never have gotten to where I am today, a proud student at Florida State University.

One of the biggest lessons I learned was that it is easy to say that you should learn from someone else’s mistakes but once you live through your own trials and tribulations it makes you really look at the world in an entirely new way. Some of the ways I noticed this affect my life was with my grades improving instantly. It was like I was being held back before but now I started to realize what I am capable of and frankly, I am capable of a lot. I started to involve myself more around school. I joined the debate team which helped me grow as a speaker and allowed me to have sort of an outlet away from what went on at home. My mom noticed this change of heart also. In a way, I should have listened from the beginning, but it’s crazy looking back and seeing all the things my mom said would happen or things I should look out for come to light. Honestly, my mom was my biggest influence growing up. Even though there were a lot of times where I didn’t appreciate what she would say to me, the words she would utter out of her mouth stuck to me finally and made me into a much better person today than I was before. Sometimes I just want to call her and let her know about the huge impact she’s had on my life, but I tell her all the time. And now that I am in college, I think it is time for me to show her instead of telling her. I plan on showing her buy always keeping my grades up, staying out of trouble and doing everything that I can to stay on a successful path.