Growing up, in my opinion, is the most important part of adolescence. I grew up in a household where my mom, a single parent working many hours to make ends meet was out of the house a lot. As the oldest child I learned to start preparing dinner on the days that my mom didnt have time to. I set a good example for my sisters. I enforced rules such as bedtimes and I took the mantle and achieved the responsibility of the leadership position in my mothers absence. I did extracurricular activities and sports such as track & field and afterschool clubs. But towards sophomore year, my involvement in afterschool activities decreased, my mom got a new job with a different schedule that required me to pick up my sisters from school every day.
I think that I had to grow up a little earlier than most kids around my age. Not many people that I know have grew up in the same circumstances that I did. I believe that this experience has and is continuing to make me grow into a more mature person with good character and strong leadership skills such as patience, determination, perseverance and self-sacrifice. I learned that there is a time and place for everything, which especially pertains to balancing schoolwork, social life and responsibilities. Many people especially my mother and sisters have too much reliance on me for something like that to be an option. Though my mother is everything for us and we would literally have nothing if it werent for her, there are even times when she says to me, where would we be without you, or youve helped me so much, I cant imagine how we would have had ended up without you.