I am a 20-year-old self-supporting student. When I first moved out to attend my dream university, I was overwhelmed with guilt about leaving my family home. I couldn’t shake the feeling of leaving my younger sister behind, living with a man who had been in our lives since childhood. He was the father of our younger siblings and pretended to be a "dad," but he had also been sexually assaulting us since the moment he came into the picture.
I reported the abuse because I felt too guilty to abandon my sister. This decision changed everything. My stepdad served time for his actions, but my mother vanished with our other siblings and wants nothing to do with me or my sister. It’s been like this for the past two years.
Now, my sister and I are both in school, and I work to support us. I hope to give her a nice Christmas, but money is incredibly tight. I don’t want to choose between earning money and pursuing my education; I deserve a good education. |
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