Burns Austin
Beck, Tara-Seate
ENG 111/112
12 October 2018
The Way I Am
There are millions of education opportunities in the United States and this
number varies due to the size of local population. Education opportunities such as
preschools, head start programs, public schools, private schools, and private day cares.
Growing up in the small town of Chase City, there were not as many of those options
when it came to my education. At a young age, I realized that the better my schoolwork
was, the more positive attention I received from my family. So, like any child would do, I
sought that attention, not knowing the positive effect it would later have on my life.
I was raised in what I believed was an ideal neighborhood, where friends were
close, and family was even closer. There were several houses that lined one side of the
road; separated by a thin layer of trees between us, that was just dense enough to offer
some privacy, but still enough to see the basic outline of the house. To the right of us
lived this amazing couple who were in their early fifties at the time. From the day I was
born, they practically adopted me as their own grandchild. They allowed my family to
use their pool during the summer months, invited me for sleepovers and allowed me to
visit anytime I wanted. Also, to the far right, lived my cousin who assisted in a few of my
scrapes and bruises. She was more like a big sister; a playmate, a friend, a partner in
crime. To the left of us, was my grandma, who assisted in both my mental strength and
my never-ending appetite for pizza and chicken tenders. Living close to all of these
family members made life seem easier for everybody because if we needed something,
then there was always a person nearby that had it. It was the perfect union of neighbors
and family. However, this close proximity did not last past my pre-teen years. I was
twelve when I first heard that we needed to leave our house. At that moment, I realized
that my family unit may not be as perfect after all.
There was a lot going on behind the scenes that my parents shielded me from.
To this day, I don’t know all the details but what I do know is that not all families have
