I currently am living with an extended family mostly with my father's side. There are 4 families of us and our lives haven't been easy. We live in a squatters area and our houses are really close to each other.

I am the eldest in our family and it's not easy to be one. My mother and father got married at a young age. They have not reached college so they were not able to give us a good life. Ànd to help us with our needs, my aunt (father's sister) financed our studies and everything.

Since we are poor, when I was child, my parents and my aunts would put some pressure to me. They always reminded me to study hard and not commit into relationships. I can still remember how I never enjoyed watching TV because if they see some issues about early pregnancies, they would immediately point out at me. How pity! I decided then to go to bed early. It was really hard for myself for I was doing good at school but it seemed I had done bad. I was innocent.

High school came and my journey went not easy. I learned to be independent. I did things on my own such as homework and projects because I had no one to ask to. My difficulties went really hard because people started to play with my business..

There are these kind of people who would judge your future. And from my own family (especially my Father's sister in law), I heard her saying that I couldn't graduate because I would fail as a student and I would get pregnant. I've heard a lot of it but I made those criticisms as my motivation. I promised myself that I would do my best in order to prove her wrong.

And that day came…

I was able to graduate with honors in our university. I already passed the examination for professional teachers. And I am currently teaching.

I know in myself that I'm not that very successful but I think, somehow I made something that is worth of her criticisms. I am 21 and am still working to build my sister's dream and I will do my best to help my 6 siblings.

Thanks to those criticisms. They made me stronger. And whoever is reading this, I hope you could surpass your journey in life.