Personal Narrative: Growing Up In Poverty

I mostly grew up in poverty. We were the people that were thought as “smooching off the government.” My dad is retired and we both live off of social security. Throughout my entire schooling till the end of high school, I always received the free/reduced lunch program. We went to a lot of garage and yard sales growing up. Looking back, I never had new clothes from a store when I was younger. I even didn’t have to pay the $100 fee for the A/P exam in high school. At the end of high school, three-fourths of my shirts were from volunteer events. I presently still have clothes that fit me from middle school.

In middle school, kids made fun of me because of my shoes. My dad usually got my shoes from garage sales when I was younger. I would wear my shoes until I basically could not wear them anymore. My shoes would have holes or the soles would be broken. I would still wear my old shoes months after getting blisters because they didn’t fit me anymore. I used my shoes till the very end. At first as a

I have the attitude that I work for the things I get but that’s not always true. I don’t like handouts because I feel like I didn’t deserve it but I actually would need it. Being a college student, I am very grateful and blessed to be able to have the opportunity to go to school under scholarship. I am still learning to not feel bad when someone or a program wants to help me by giving me supplies or necessities that I need. Without people that have helped me to get where I am now, it would have been impossible. I am always grateful for what I receive but I notice that I tend to feel bad about it. I am still learning to not feel guilty and to use it as an opportunity to help reach my future goals. As a child, I could not control my class in society. I am always and will be judged and criticized in some way but all I need to do is to be able to