How I Surviving Without Anyone’s Help In College

As once stated by Michael Bassey Johnson, “if you truly want to be respected by people you love, you must prove to them that you can survive without them.” If there are any words from this quote that stand out to me, they would have to be “survive without them.” Surviving without anyone is what I have been doing for the past two and a half years here in college. It’s rough, and some days I want to give up, but I know that that is simply just not an option for me.

I am a college student who is completely on their own. My parents have barely enough money to support themselves, let alone enough money to send me to college. I’m surrounded by people who call their parents every other week to ask them for gas money or money for groceries, and I can’t help but wish I was able to do the same thing. I don’t have that privilege. Since I started college, my parents have not given me a single penny. Not because they don’t want to, but because they simply do not have anything to give. My mother lives from paycheck to paycheck, barely even being able to provide for herself. I am only able to continue with my education because Texas A&M University has been generous enough to award me scholarships based on my academic excellence, and also because I have had to personally take out loans to cover my costs for school.

Writing these essays every year only gets harder and harder. Not only do I have to worry about doing exceptionally well in my classes every semester in order to continue to be eligible to receive certain scholarships, I also have to worry every summer about having enough financial aid to cover my next year of school. I am beyond grateful for the scholarships Texas A&M has provided me with, but to say that they don’t come with a price would be complete dishonesty. The scholarships I receive require me to obtain a certain GPA every semester, and the amount of added pressure and stress that puts on me is extremely unbearable most times. Not only do I have to worry about performing well in my classes for the sake of being able to obtain a degree, but also even just to continue being a student at Texas A&M University. My entire future depends on how well I do every semester. Any slight mess up, and everything could be gone in the blink of an eye.

The amount of money that I am awarded each year is just enough to cover my school fees and basic necessities. This is the only way that I am able to continue going to college. Without these scholarships every semester, there is no way I would be able to continue attending Texas A&M University. To say that these past few years here have been hard is a definite understatement. The people who know me and my family always continue to remind me of how proud they are that I’ve managed to succeed this far without any help from any of them.

Having to be on your own is definitely not something I would wish on anyone, because not being able to rely on your own family to support you through what should be the best time of your life is beyond difficult and challenging, and it forces you to grow up at an exponential rate.