I believe in family. The love and support of a family can not be compared to anything else.

I am 17 years old, I am not yet a man but I am also not a boy. Throughout the earlier years of my life I don’t believe that I appreciated my family as much. Now as I grow older I recognize what my family has done for me and how they have changed me to become a better son, a better brother, a better person, and a better me.

I never really understood why things happened how they did. I believed all the scolding and ass beatings I received were just because I had done something bad, like when I had come home from Outdoor Education early because I had been kicked out, the trip was 115 dollars. I was wrong, they had a deeper meaning. Whenever I was scolded or got my ass kicked, it was not because I had done something bad, it was to show me that everything has a consequence and if I did something bad I most likely would have a bad consequence waiting for me. I believe it was also to teach me that I should stay on a positive road; negativity would only lead me to a cliff.

I believe that without my family I truly would not be on the right path to a greater future. I believe that my family escaping from their homeland, and escaping the communism and poverty of their country, was to give me a better life. I believe that without my siblings, Malissa and Scott, I could not try harder to excel in my life and push myself over obstacles in my way. My siblings give me ten million more reasons to live, ten million more reasons to finish college, and ten million more reasons to be a role model and a big brother. I believe without my parents I would be hopeless. When my father went to the hospital and I did know if he would return home, I realized how short life is, and that I should love the people I love with all the love I have.

I believe that my family has guided me from the journey of a boy to a man, and shown me the support and love that without, I could not be.

I believe my family is important, just as important as my life, because without them I am not alive. I believe in family.

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