<p>It is my first draft, I’d love any and all opinions! And please, be harsh! I need honest opinions here.</p>
<pre><code> If there is anything that I have been taught by my parents and teachers that I have had throughout my life, it is that giving up is, and never will be, an option. I have lived in Riverside all my life, yet I have always gone to school in Anaheim. It is about a one hour drive, yet we could never afford to purchase a house out there. Still, since my parents were adamant on putting both me and my sister into good schools, they were willing to endure the one hour drive every single day of the school year for us. The elementary school that I went to was a very elite and academic school, but also one that was built on leadership and building character. My parents and my teachers alike hammered into my head the idea that even though grades and test scores are important, it is the character and leadership qualities that you obtain that will make you a truly successful person. This foundation has repeatedly come up at many points in my life, and it has affected many decisions that I have made.
After graduating from the 8th grade, I decided to attend Servite High School, which had similar beliefs as my middle school regarding leadership and character. However, my family struggled to keep me at Servite. Since my mom was a preschool teacher at my elementary school, she was only required to pay half of my tuition, so it was not as challenging to afford. Servite did not offer this same deal, however, and so my parents constantly warned me that I likely would not graduate from this high school. While they tried to be as sympathetic about it as possible, these thoughts always troubled me; I knew in my heart that this is where I wanted to graduate, and I knew that I had to do something about it. I ultimately decided that the best plan moving forward was going to be to sign up for the work intern program, which would allow me to work off $2,000 of the total tuition. After I work off the two-thousand, I would be allowed to continue to work to knock off eight dollars an hour. When I start something, I loathe being forced to quit, and I was not going to allow money to prohibit me from going to the school that I love. There is no doubt that this work took a small toll on my life, since it caused me to get home at around seven oclock the days I worked, but I knew that this is what I had to do, and looking back on it as a senior, I am so glad that I was able to keep this commitment.
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