In living life, a person will always make mistakes for which he will have to pay the consequences.  For example, in my ninth grade year in junior high school, I was suspended for ninety days for selling marijuana.  I was devastated and truly didn't know what to do.  My mother had to come to school and escort me home.  I sat and thought about the future and how to get my life back on track.  Many people in my situation would have given up on their education (as I thought to do many times), but I thought, "What good would that accomplish?" 

This situation changed my life. It showed me that the decisions I made in my life not only affected me, but those around me as well.  My mother had to quit her job and stay at home with me.  I had to work very hard to keep my grades up and not fail my classes.  Every morning I woke up, and my mother helped me study hard for my classes.  I quit drinking and smoking, and I realized that I could have fun in life without doing what everyone else was doing.  I finally realized that it was time for me to look to the future and do the right thing.  It was hard to live thinking that I had let my family down, especially my mother.  I had my whole life in front of me, and it seemed like I had ruined it forever.  It took a lot of support from my friends, but truly my mom is the reason why I'm here today.  Even through the tough times, she always persevered with me and encouraged me that, no matter what, she would never give up loving me as her son.