Abuse to Success

by Kortney
(Florida, USA)

It all starts when I was just a kid and my grandparents became ill and unable to take care of me. I was verbally and emotionally abused by my grandmother. I was told I was all of these horrible things for a couple years. Then, I watched my grandfather die in front of me one afternoon right before my 14th birthday. He was the only thing right in my life at that time. I thought life couldn't get any worse.

For another 4 years, I lived through even worse abuse and neglect. Most of my mother's brothers and sisters stepped up to help my grandmother. Instead of helping, they just took her money. I was physically, emotionally, and verbally abused. I was starved and shut out time and time again.

When I was 16-17, I was abandoned by these people. They moved to the other side of the country and left me behind. The abuse seemed over until it started from someone I thought was a friend. It was the same thing over and over. All of this abuse on top of purposely not being fed and being locked out at night.

I managed to graduate high school at 17. College was on my mind but I didn't know how to get there. I had no one and nothing. I had only applied to one school which I was accepted to. However, I didn't think I was going to go because of my situation.

When I was on my way to work one day, I was stopped by another friend's parents. In a couple of minutes, my life was changed. I finally was going to get a break. They went to the school that accepted me and put things in motion to get me to college. During this time, these strangers became my family.

I am currently very successful in college and close to achieving my Bachelors in Social Work. The very same people that helped me get here, are still very close to me. I am working toward a very bright future.

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