I grew up in a family of drug addicts. Surrounded by alcoholics, prescription pills, pot heads, meth, and heroin. I learned how to roll a blunt before I got my period.
While in school, I would often get phone calls like:
“Your brother is missing”
“You need to come home and hangout with your brother”
“You’re abandoning us”
“How could you put school before your family”
And this one hit hard:
“You don’t love your brother”
I’ve aced classes, only to fail the final exam, because my brother overdosed that morning.
How did I find my way out?
The first thing I had to do in my life was self-development. I needed to learn to trust myself, not to trust others. Trust that I would do the right thing every day, even if all the voices around me are telling me something else.
The second thing I did was vow to never take advice from someone I wanted to be nothing like. Did I want to be an alcoholic or pill addict? No. So, if someone asked me to leave school, I stayed. OR if someone told me pursuing a higher education was a bad idea, I didn’t listen.
School opened new doors for me. Interacting with new people, seeing new ways of living, learning from teachers who loved teaching, working on class projects with engaged students, advancing my skill sets. Professors and peers understood my goals, ambition and potential. This taught me how to make myself the priority and create boundaries.
Please be patient and achieve your goals. God gave YOU those dreams for a reason.
And always remember, you are not the caretaker of those who want to stay asleep.