A winning essay from our Brighter Future Scholarship contest

I grew up with parents who had addictions. My mom was addicted to alcohol. My dad was addicted to gambling and had a past history of drug addiction. To add to my journey I also was diagnosed with autism. My parents having these addictions affected me in many ways throughout my life.

My moms addiction to alcohol made a big impact on our relationship, trust, and me feeling safe. My mom was in many treatment centers for chunks of my life, and each time she came out of treatment, I thought she would be better again and we can have a normal mother and daughter relationship like my friends had with their mothers, but I was wrong most of the time. I spent Christmas, birthdays, and many holidays without her. I remember one Christmas I said to my grandmother “how can we celebrate Christmas without mom?”. I never felt stable because we moved so many times, changing towns and schools constantly. My dad had to raise me by himself for many years with the help of my grandmother until my mom got healthy. This addiction caused a lot of conflict with my mom and our family which was hard for me to watch because I just wanted us to all love each other.

My dads addiction was much different then my moms addiction which affected me in a very different way. I went from having a beautiful home with my dad and anything I could possibly want to my dad having nothing. We lived in a big beautiful home and I felt very stable with him. That changed when his gambling addiction started to take over his life. It ended up causing us to lose our beautiful house and once again I had to move. I had to start my life over again. This addiction still affects him and me to this day.

My mom and I are still trying to build back our relationship that was taken away due to her addiction. I’ve learned that you can’t just build a relationship overnight, it takes time to build back that trust. Addiction is a disease. I appreciate very much how hard my mom is trying to make up for the years that were taken away from us. A positive thing that developed through my moms absence was my relationship with my extended family. My aunts and uncles were always there for me through it all and I still have those strong bonds with them today. We know that addiction can be hereditary which makes me realize that I have to be very careful with my decision making so I don’t end up having to go through what they went through. I have to learn from their mistakes.

Writing this essay caused me to go back to a place that was very scary for me and opened my eyes on how much their addictions affected who I am today. My goal in life is to go to college to major in Psychology. I want to help people who struggle with addiction or the effects of having loved ones struggle with addiction. This scholarship will help me achieve these goals. Thank you for considering me for this scholarship and this amazing opportunity.

> See other essays