From Within
I remember as far back as grade school being the outcast because I wore hand-me-down clothes and wasn’t part of a family that was well-off. For the first part of my life, I was raised by a single mom. In high school, I was told no more times than I could count, whether it was due to the hardships I was going through and letting my grades go, or just letting life take over and control me in general. I had no real direction, so I followed those who accepted me. Often times, that was not a good choice. I know that now. Back then though, acceptance was important to me because most of my life, I was not accepted. In college, my dream of becoming a college basketball player was crushed when the coach told me no for getting a full scholarship (she could only offer partial, which meant I had to work still and wouldn’t be able to focus on basketball or my studies). Later on, I was told no so many times. How I even made it into the military is still a blessing in disguise.
