Trials & Tribulations of a 3% Child

So as I got older I learned to appreciate things for what they were but still question them sometimes if I don't fully understand them. So although I never got an answer from my mother about why my father just doesn't just learn something new so he can make more money and not have to work so much I always thought about it in the back of my mind and would continue to try to figure it out on my own. Around this same time I was being exposed to a lot of different things simply because my parents were wise enough to send me to school outside of my normal element. Simple example would be my first grade class, where I was one of only two black people in my 1st grade class, the other being my teacher. However my ways would still excel and I was always at the top of my classes.

Going to school outside my neighborhood allowed me to meet people who were different than me and learn that in the end we are all the same whether it be good or bad, at the end of the day we are all just people. However I would eventually have to leave this school due to my mother and father becoming so busy and transportation issues with me and my younger brother being involved in so many after school activities. So by the time I reached the 5th grade I was back at a local neighborhood school and would get welcomed back in the traditional way as it seems in our hood.

I learned a lot in just that one year about people period, and how they treat outsiders, regardless of color, prosperity or talents. That year I went through many test to gain other kids respect as well as adults in the neighborhood I would eventually meet. Prior to that year, I never went out in my neighborhood because I played for a football team outside my neighborhood so my only friends were from school and football, so none of those people lived near me. I learned to earn respect you simply had to give it and if you were dealing with a respectable person there would always be a mutual good thing to fall back on.

Many parents in the neighborhood loved me and learned to love my mother as well. She would eventually grow to become the mom for the neighborhood. With her having a number of kids and being involved in knowing everything that was going on, she developed a network with all the other parents and made sure they knew when their kids were at my house and what was going on at their schools and when they needed to be there or when something important should have been coming home.

Report card time brought quiet time to my house simply because everyone avoided my house due to having to show Ms. Thomas your report card. Because anyhow you didn't have good grades you weren't banned from my house, you were require to be there, and I had to tutor you. So in a way I was put on punishment because that would normally be videogame time. On top of that your parents would obviously know and you would be garnished of your fun for whatever time they saw suitable.

This year I also joined the Police Athletic League, P.A.L. for short. I can honestly say that this may have been one of the most influential and most beneficial programs I may have ever been a part of. It gave me a safe place to enjoy activities and sports on a daily basis that was very close to home. I would eventually come to learn and play many sports and participate in many programs both educational and entertaining. It helped expand who I am to a significant degree to which I will forever feel in debt to the creators and officers who helped run that program.

My 5th grade year was the beginning of an open-minded approach or thought process that would become a significant part of me and keep me different from most people. I would eventually make a ton of new neighborhood friends, get in a lot of trouble as kids did, but make lasting impressions on many people that til this day is still positive and unforgettable. I would learn to look at things with an open-mind and to not put barriers on what I could do. I truly began to harness this 3% mindset and understand it to a significant level this year. However, it still didn't dawn on me yet, that I was only in the 3%. Time would eventually show me otherwise.