Narrative Essay

Submitted By allie1008
Words: 1002
Pages: 5

Learning a Valuable Lesson

English 101

Looking back on my life I see that I have made many life mistakes, all due to my lack of patience and never listening to what my elders told me. If I had only listened to their words of wisdom and took into consideration what was told, I would have saved myself a lot of trouble, but would have not learned the lesson of the importance of education. However, I took my own path and did things my way, not following the guidance of my elders. I still remember what my mom told me like it was just yesterday, she told me education is most important. The most valuable lesson I learned was when I got caught cheating on one of my finals in high school. It started at ninth grade when I entered high school which was a new to me. I began to have many new friends that could drive and going out was much more fun than staying home and studying. My mom warned me to stay more focused in school, I told her not to worry because I could always figure my way out. She also told me to work my way through anything that I wanted and “Only fools rush in”, but whatever she said seemed to go in one ear and out the other. I started arriving at school late every day and if I did go on time, I would sleep in class. I missed a lot of homework and class activities. So, I was already behind the class before I even knew about it. I did not know what to do when the final was about to come. I was stuck in a bad situation, so I decide to take the short cut and cheat on the exam. I got caught and went through a lot of bad experiences with the teachers and school principal. I only got what I deserved as I was sitting in the principal’s office I remembered all the things that my mom had told me about getting an education but it still did not change my life at that point. I continued to make mistakes and associate myself with the “older” crowd that was already out of school or had quit school. So by the summer of my tenth grade year I choose to quit school and go to work in a sock mill. I moved out of my mom’s house who did not agree with me quitting school and moved in with my dad who was accepting of my decision to quit. I worked at the sock mill for about eight months. It seemed that working and hanging out with my friends was more important than having anything to do with my education. I was making great money or what I thought was great money for a sixteen year old, I thought this was going to be the best thing for me because this was what all of my friend were doing. I always thought that you needed an education to make good money but here I was at sixteen making great money so I did not even think about my education I just assumed that if I was making this much money now that was all I needed and could get a better paying job later on in life. Little did I know that I needed an education to make more money that just what I could working in a sock mill. A year after I quit school my father tragically died in a car accident that is when I was forced to move back in with my mom. I was not looking forward to living with her once again because I knew she was stricter on getting an education that what my father had been. Once I moved back in I then realized seeing all of my brother and sisters going to