Why am I glad I was never "well-off" ???

It sounds weird I know. I was never considered well off...I never had a lot of money available to me...that happens when you have a big family.

First of all I don't know any different. This is my life, this is the way it has always been for me...I don't honestly know what it is like to not have to struggle with finances.

But now we can talk about why I am glad that I never had a lot of money.

Well, now I appreciate the money that I do have. I appreciate the money that I work for, and I especially appreciate it when someone goes out of their way to help me.

I know what hard work is, trust me, I have done my fair share of manual labor (she types as she is currently "working" in the computer lab). I know how to appreciate having a job even though it is difficult, or inconvenient. I know that I should be thankful just to have a job. I know that even if I'm working in a place with terrible customers, I can be thankful for that job and continue working in a plesant manner.

I know that life isn't always peaches and cream. My constant struggle with finances has taught me that...ya, life can be hard...in fact, it WILL be hard. There is no way around that, but because I already know this, I can accept the challenge and not feel the need to shrink into a dark corner every time I have an issue.

I have learned how to fight for things. Scholarships, loans, money, savings...I can fight for those things simply because I have had to learn how. It has made me independent, and knowledgeable about the financial world.

and I have learned to give when I can.

Being in the financial situations I have been in, I have experienced people helping me. I have witnessed the pure goodness of others through their help. Financial help, physical help, emotional help...just simply caring about me. I have come to appreciate these acts of kindness in ways that I cannot really describe.

But I know that I want to give back. Maybe it doesn't mean that I give back to the same person who helped me...Maybe it means I help someone else. There is always someone who needs help. I know that I appreciate help, and I hope to give others the joy that I have been given.

I write in all of those scholarship essays and such that I want to give back to the community. I want to help others the way I have been helped...and I mean it. I'm going to be a teacher...teachers are NEVER rich...never...poor is practically in the job description...this is clearly not something I am doing for the money...no...I want to help these kids. I want them to see that they can have a future and a bright one at that. I want to help others...my students, my peers, my colleagues...people I don't know...and I think I feel so strongly about this simply because of the life that I have lived...it was hard. I know it is hard for others, and I want to help make it easier...even if it is only a little bit easier, at least it is something that I can give.