Advice to Nya of the past by K'Nya

Advice to Nya of the past by K'Nya - July 2025 Scholarship Essay

If I could give my past self a piece of advice, it would be to not let people's words affect you; instead, prove them wrong. Many people assume the worst about my future, and although I still hear hurtful comments, I never let them bring me down. I consider it fuel to the fire to prove them wrong. The main reason the family even thinks that way about me is because of my mother. My mother did not make the best decisions in her youth. Unfortunately, at the age of 16, she got pregnant. After the pregnancy, she turned her back on her baby and turned to the streets, and soon got addicted to drugs. I never knew until I was older, though, because my dad tried to hide me from the ugly truth. I only saw my mother on holidays, and that seriously bothered me. Every time I came around her, it was always laughs and good vibes, and I didn't understand why I didn't see her more. After the addiction began, she burned many bridges with family members and took advantage of them. Which is also a reason why nobody is willing to help me due to her actions. Lastly, she started getting constantly arrested for things like petty theft and other misdemeanors. All and all, due to her actions, people suppose I am doomed to the same fate as my mother. When I first started living with her, everything seemed well, until she began doing drugs again. It was terrible listening to her delusions on how "people were out to get her".I watched her sit in one spot and pick at her scabs one by one until blood gushed out. She used to mix random concoctions like dish soap, medicine, shampoo, and alcohol, and put them all on her body. Seeing that scared me, but it also made me take notes on what not to do in the future. She soon lost the apartment, and with all of the bridges she burnt, we had nowhere to go. So from that point, we lived in hotels; she called it hotel bouncing. From Garland, to Dallas to Rowlett, to Rockwall, we went everywhere. Doing so made me go from being an A/B student to failing and not even attending school. That is something I regret to this day. My mother was unemployed, and hotels are expensive, so while I was playing with my friends, my mother ran a prostitution business when I was away. I knew, but I always pretended not to know. It was very embarrassing, but it made me respect her. Sometimes she even forced me to beg the men she brought around for money because, in her words, " men have more sympathy for kids. The only way I can heal is to shut people out. I accidentally built a border, and it's hard for me to let people into my life. This is a bad thing because sometimes the right people may be trying to enter my life. But I would rather have nobody come in at all than to accidentally let the wrong person in again.

What I learned from my life experiences is that the outside world will paint a negative image of who you are based on where you came from, not where you’re going. My life has been a constant battle against assumptions. Due to my mother's actions, my own family predicted my future would be troubled like hers or worse. They saw my story as already written, one destined to follow the same broken path. But I refuse to let that be my truth. Instead, I’m picking up the pieces and creating a masterpiece from the mess I was handed.

I am the first person in my family to go to college, something no one expected of me. Every day, I work relentlessly to support myself, not because it is easy, but because I know I deserve better. Growing up without a mother’s guidance was hard, but it taught me to be resilient, focused, and independent. I’m not only rewriting a narrative, I’m painting over it completely. The erroneous image they created doesn’t define me. My drive, my vision, my goals, and my strength do. I’m determined to prove everyone wrong, not out of spite, but out of love for myself and belief in my potential. My story is no longer a tragedy; it’s a triumph in progress!