For me, 2017 was the year I began to truly grow up and accept myself. I accept my past, my present, and look forward to a happy, successful future. This year I feel like I really began to embrace myself and come to terms with my past. I let my past burden for me for a very long time. My family's had financial struggles for nearly a decade now and thankfully, over time, we have begun to get on our feet again and try and rebuild a good life. I grew up in a very tense environment financially. My dad did not have a good job between 2008-2012. Even after my dad got a good job, it was hard for us to recover. In January 2015 we nearly lost our home and it was scary facing near eviction. We had times where we did not have enough money to pay bills, gas and groceries I grew up in a constant struggle. It really impacted more than I thought and it made me very bitter. When I was younger it did not really affect, like when i was in high school it didn't faze me. But this past year I felt it hitting me, I grew up differently than my cousins and friends and they had, in honest terms, better lives than me. They grew up with everything and never had to go through the struggles I did. But that is not anyone's fault we all have our own path. This year is when I finally realized that my past doesn't define me. I have been through more than anyone my age probably has. I have had a tough life, it wasn't easy for me growing up. But this year I realized that is not going to be my whole life. I will not be a victim of my past and the way things once were. I am blazing my trail and path. I am not a victim. I am a survivor and I am living proof that even if your past has been unstable it does not mean your whole life will be like that. I grew up with nothing. But by God's grace I realize that now I have been blessed with so much. I grew up in a home with financial struggles but I learned the lesson that things will turn out better and different. Things have already began changing for the better. I am not going to let my past heartbreak and struggles come into 2018 with me. 2018 will be a fresh start for me, a new beginning. This past year has taught me to leave all the pain in the past all the sufferings in the past. This is my fresh start and it's a new year of wonderful and amazing blessings.