Every day, I am reminded to believe in myself under any circumstance. Every day, I am reminded about how I am not different from the person across from me and to do the best I can in everything I do. Every day I am reminded of how far I’ve come and how much I have made this person proud. Every day I am reminded about how much this person believes in me.
Every day it’s from the same person. A loud ringing running through the entirety of my home, as early as four-thirty in the morning was a regular occurrence from my mother's cell phone. She Turns off the alarm to stretch and goes to prepare breakfast. After making breakfast for me and my younger sister, she would begin to wake the two of us up. This was a normal routine for my mother growing up. My mother could do it all. Whether it was early mornings for piano practice or late nights from basketball and ballet practice. My mother did a lot for me and my sister growing up, not just because she wanted to but because she had no other choice.
Being a single parent is not an easy task for anyone. I am grateful for her commitment because seeing how hard she worked to assure our safety and to make sure we had an education influences me to work hard today. My mother was never married however growing up my father wasn’t always around, unfortunately like most fathers for African Americans. Growing up it felt like I had attended half the schools in Chicago because my mother felt they weren’t challenging me and my sister enough. Handling the two of us practically alone trying to enroll us in schools where we would be receiving critical thinking skills and getting something out of them. Purchasing school supplies, paying for school field trips, and making sure we had access to tutoring were stressful on their own. On top of handling her career.
At a young age, I realized how dedicated and busy she’d become to ensure the safety and well-being of all of us. One thing my mother wouldn’t get caught doing was asking for help from anyone. She was so independent and would follow through with everything. She grew to be my role model and her independence rubbed off on me. I learned to take responsibility for myself and my sister. I learned how to ask for help and educate myself and others. Just to attempt to make my mother's life easier. While my mother was driving her way home I made it a priority to play her role at home. Having not only my homework but my sister's homework finished and looked over so when my mother wouldn’t have come home from overtime fatigued, tense, and overwhelmed. Once my mother made it home both I and my sister tucked in. She would make her way to my bedroom to ask about my day and I would ask about hers.
We could’ve gone on for hours just talking but not only did she have to ask my sister but she had to wake up at nearly four-thirty and do it all over again. Years later as my sister and I grew older we made my mother's work haul much easier. My mother's character has influenced who I am as a person unlike anything else. My mother attended the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her perseverance motivates me to better my education and to pursue a career that I have a passion for. I am sure that during my time as a student at the University I will become more resourceful.