Our life experiences play a major role in who we become. Thus, it is not a surprise people often have different personalities and different ideologies. I know this because an adult life started for me much earlier as compared to most of my peers.

I was only five years old when I lost my father. While a five-year old child still sees the world as something of a fairy tale and believes that Superman, Batman, and Cinderella etc. are real, I started realizing that the real world is a bit different.

In addition to the fact that I had to be very conservative with my demands because family’s finances were in dire condition and my mom struggled with two jobs, I also had to deal with questions such as who to call a father. But over the next few years, I had gotten the answer that my mom was my father, too.

Being the eldest child in the family, I didn’t only have to be an obedient child to my mother so as to set positive examples for my siblings but also had to share the role of father with my mother because one person can handle only so much. As a result, I was not only an elder sibling to my siblings but also a parent. I was inspired to excel in life, thus, I had to take my academic responsibilities seriously but I also needed energy and time to provide emotional support to my mother and siblings. This struggle helped me develop strong time management skills because my father’s death might have increased my responsibilities but the day had not gotten longer than 24 hours.

A difficult childhood also made me an objective and rational thinker at an early age. One reason a child has an easy life is that he can afford to dream and have hopes. He can even afford to believe in miracles but adults have more realistic expectations of life. As I had become an adult at a young age, I understood that life is not fair.

Thus, the best way to deal with it is to work hard and have a realistic plan in place so that one spends a focused life, away from distractions. I really credit my maturity for keeping me away from risky behaviors my school fellows engaged in such as underage drinking and smoking etc. They probably didn’t but I understood that actions have consequences and sometimes lifelong. Whereas my fellow students and friends had short-term views on life, for me it has always been long-term views on life.

My friends sometimes tell me I have strong work ethics and never complain no matter how challenging the situation may be. I am not surprised because my life experiences have prepared me well enough for difficult life. When other children only worried about school and play, I also worried about looking after my siblings and family finances. As a result, I have developed strong emotional intelligence which explains why I respond well to stressful situations and am able to keep myself relaxed.

I have no doubt life would have been much better if my father were still alive because a father’s love is special but I also know that I might not have become the strong person I am now if my father were still alive. May be it was the God’s plan to help me grow through difficult times. Since my father was not there to protect me, I learnt to protect myself and am now quite confident of successfully facing anything life may throw at me. I look forward to a great college career because I am quite close to my dream of a bright future that I have had since childhood.