Growing up as a child, I always viewed my mother as my biggest hero. From a young age I had already learned to appreciate all the sacrifices she made to give me a comfortable life. She never failed to provide a roof over my head, clothes to keep me warm, and hot food on a plate to keep me well fed. All the luxuries a daughter could ask for—but most importantly, she gave me her unconditional love and support to steer me in the right direction. I know life did not come as easy for her, and I was determined to prove to her that all her hard work was not going to waste. My household consisted of my mom, my brother and I. Despite the fact that my mom had to single handedly raise the both of us on her own, she had more strength than what I would imagine two parents could ever have. I looked up to her. I always told myself that if I grew up to be half the woman she was, I succeeded. Somewhere along the way though, I fell off track. I surrounded myself with the wrong crowd and lost sight of my priorities. I got myself into plenty of trouble and before I knew it, I came face to face with a situation that nearly turned my world upside down. I remember it so vividly. It was the last quarter of senior year and I sat nervously in the counselor's office at school. Up until this point, I had been ditching a class for some months and I was completely reckless without a care in the world. One of my teachers had decided to arrange a meeting with my counselor and my mom to discuss the consequences. I had earned myself a failing grade in the given class, and I needed those credits to be able graduate. So many thoughts ran through my mind... how did I let myself turn out to be such a disappointment? How did I fail to give my mom the joy of seeing her daughter walk on her graduation? I tried to fight the tears back when suddenly, the door opened and my mom stepped into the room Many words were exchanged. My teacher narrowed his eyes, shook his head sadly and said, "She's failed to show up to nearly half the semester. How do you expect me to give her the credits she is asking of me." Those words spinned