Personal Narrative: Growing Up In Poverty

Growing Up in Poverty.

Growing up in poverty was the best was the best thing that ever happened to me. Living in a house full of 5 siblings, and having to share everything I have with all of them, sure did take a toll on me. Especially while being the youngest sibling, I have to do all the chores in the house, by myself. All of my siblings were always worried about themselves, so every time I had a fight in school, I had to deal with the person I’m fighting and their older brother, by myself. I had to deal with my own problems, and survive by myself, at such a young age. September 12, 2001 was the day my father got fired from his good paying job. He worked for the city, and it was just a “coincidence” that he got fired the day after the Twin Tower Attack happened. My dad had to make money to provide for his family, so he opened up a business. It is still open but it is not making a lot of money, so my father never had enough money to buy a new house. I didn’t know it then, but the day my father got fired, was the start of the 18 more years I would be living in that old house.
I knew I needed to start supporting my family, and myself, and by the age of 18, I got my first job, as a cook, in Barracos.
The first day I worked, I already wanted a new job. I barely understood what everyone in the kitchen was saying, I kept getting burnt by the cooking oil, and the hours weren’t flexible enough for me. I hated that job so much, so I started looking for new jobs the same week I started my job at Barracos. When I received my first paycheck, I gave the whole thing to my mother. The week I got my first paycheck, was the same week I quit. I had to quit so I can invest my time on searching for a new job. My new job needed phone repair experience, so I lied to them, told them I know how to fix phones, and learned how to fix IPhones from YouTube before my first
interview. Growing up in poverty gave me the sense of hustling at such a young age. I knew that my parents needed every penny they could have, and I felt like it was my responsibility to support them. All of my other brothers just used my parents, so I really had no one to look up to. I felt that I needed to inspire myself instead of someone doing it for me. Seeing all my friends have their dads buy them new cars, I had to save up and buy my own 2017, while paying my father some money to help pay the bills. Most of my friends want me to help them get paid as much as I do, but none of them want to put in the work that I had to. When you grow up less fortunate than most people, it gives you that sense of hustle that you don’t find until you grow up. I found every way to make money, legal and illegal, and now I’m trying to build up for my future. I find it more of a blessing, than a curse to grow up less fortunate because it helps you grow up and it makes you more aware of your responsibilities. I do not have time to be smoking and partying like everyone else that’s my age, I have a future to worry about.