Essay: OverComing Barriers

 

Barriers

2/22/2018

 

The implications of a few people’s actions have a cause and effect.  By their decision, I had hard choices to make that would change my life.  Can I say I’m proud?  A part of my life I don’t share with many, not that I am ashamed, but hurt!  Given the opportunity, how would life be for me if the decisions of others had not imposed on me?

 

1981 changed my life forever.  My parents argued and had physical altercation for many years.  Unfortunately, they put me in the middle of the arguments; this would make me very upset and nervous.  The unforgettable day was April 19th, 1981, on Easter Sunday, would be the last day I would spend with my mother; that day resulted in her murder in front of me.  It was a day that changes the trajectory of my life.  After the death of my mother and her funeral services in Texas, I would return to Ohio to finish the 9th grade that year.

 

By the end of July, I moved to Texas, and I would start the 10th grade that year in August.  I was looking forward to a fresh start because I wouldn’t know anyone.  Again, I would have another blow.  I ended up in the hospital for a month.  At this point, I didn’t need any more on my plate.  I was so exhausted from the death of my mother and dealing with my illness.  Everything together started a domino effect of me falling behind in high school. In December (1981), I received a subpoena from the DA’s Office in Youngstown, Ohio, to testify in court.  I knew by that time; I was so far behind in school, I could not catch up.  I spent the next year (1982), in and out of court for months.

 

So, the fort in the road, what was I going to do?  I was young, only sixteen, no home and nowhere to go!  I felt I didn’t have the same opportunity as my sisters and brothers.  I was the youngest of all the children.  My choices were to drop out of school, live on the streets, and get involved in drugs or prostitution or go to work.  So, what was I going to do?  I decided to drop out of school and get a job to work to make money and to take care of myself.  I worked hard and sometimes two jobs, but I surrounded myself with good friends that I could learn from their knowledge.  I worked my way up in Retail Management in the hotel and airport industry. I had an incredible career for seventeen years in that field.  Unexpectedly, I had dealt with another blow with my health, and unfortunately, I was not able to continue to work.

Over time I have been thinking, what would I want to do or to accomplish now?  I felt that since I have the time to go back to school, this would be the perfect opportunity for me to finish my education and get my high school diploma.  Over the past Christmas Holiday, there was a commercial for The Excel Center.  The advertisement was talking about getting their high school diploma.  So I reached out to start the process of enrollment.  I could barely contain myself!  I sent a message through Facebook, and I sent an email showing my interest in enrolling in school.  I was so excited because I knew the time was right for me now!  My goal is to continue higher education.

 

What if my past different with my parents?  Would I be the person I am today?  So, even with all the adversity and the obstacles, I was faced with; I have risen to the challenges in life.  I am the person I am today because I did not lose myself, and I stayed focused.

Written by: Greg MD