I'm working with a handful of students on scholarship essays. One essay asked students to write about a hardship they have overcome. This is Ericka's essay:
I have encountered and overcome many struggles, but the hardest was when my father died. It was the start of everything, and I was only six-years old.
Our family was perfect and well-rounded (physically, socially, mentally, and spiritually), but everything changed when my father was murdered at work. My father was a money collector of a big company of books. The police told us it was a hold-up. He was shot in his head once, but there were three exit-wounds. That is all we know.
After we buried him, my mother brought me to my grandparents in the province, Pangasinan, to continue my studies. She left my little sister, Fatima who was three years old at the time, and I there while she returned to manila to fix our files and to take my father’s case to the Court of Appeals. She returned to the province and promised us she would find a living.
In order to make my mother, and my deceased father, happy, I studied hard even though they were not with me to guide me. I was ranked in the top two of our batch during grades two and three. After two years in the province my mother brought us to Bulacan where she was working in a small eatery. So, I, as the breadwinner of the family, helped her serve, clean, and wash the dishes of the small business. At first I cried a lot because of the non-stop washing of dishes, but I learned, and realized, that it was the business that was helping us live. I also noticed that my mom was crying at night while looking at my father’s picture, and realized that she too was tired of our work. So, I was not surprised when she told us that we had a new father, but I did not like him. In a short time, my mother became pregnant. I was angry with my mother because I felt like she was not content with my sister and me.
While my sister and I were at school on day, my mother, when eight months pregnant, was brought to the hospital because of sudden bleeding. However, in God’s grace, she gave birth to a healthy baby boy. After his birth we needed to find another house because we could no longer afford the rent of our apartment. It was very hard to face life in our new house. My stepfather’s earnings from as a tricycle driver were not enough. I experienced hunger, and a lack of attention. It was as if I was left behind.
By that time, my mother and stepfather were always quarreling and their relationship ended. We had many difficulties, so we accepted the offer to live with my mother’s new friend. I am thankful that we met her even though we were treated as her maids. However, without our knowledge, my mother’s friend was a drug addict.
During that time I almost had to stop studying, but since I was about to graduate I tried to finish my studies because I didn’t want to waste my time and sacrifices. I also didn’t want to disappoint the people who love me, especially my teachers in Bagbaguin Elementary School who encouraged and helped me in that time. I graduated as salutatorian.
That was one of the hardships in my life that has made me stronger—the foundation for what I am now.
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