profile of Joseph Chaides's hardship
(summary of his essay)
Many children do not have the carefree lifestyle that the schools seem to think everyone has.
Many labels such as "out of place", or "outlaw" essentially ‘stapled' to their forehead.
Others see them as rebels, who go against the grain of every part of life on ever possible subject.
Many look down upon those who seem to go against all that is supposed to be wholesome and proper in this country.
Few care.
Joseph learned of the effects of drugs, and urges just through his everyday occurrences on the streets.
His greatest hardship in life is his current family situation.
His parents both worked long hours and had little time to spare for him throughout much of his childhood.
His real family relationships were found through his friends.
This was also the only real source of advise he was ever able to get.
During his teen years, whatever relationship he and his parents did have was completely torn apart.
He got a job at KFC just to avoid having to come home after school and deal with them.
When he was seventeen, he had been living in Manteca, and two weeks before his next birthday, he and his father got into a huge quarrel that resulted in his having been kicked out of the house.
His first few nights out of the house, he would had nowhere to sleep except at the houses of various friends, and sometimes the back seat of his car.
The only stable thing in his life was his ability to maintain his job.
His father basically had disowned him, called him a bum, and said would never go anywhere in life.
It was after this conversation with his father that he had now found the strength to fight his way through college. His GPA improved from a 2.7 to a 3.8.
When we interviewed him, he had not spoken with his family in approximately six months, and was attempting to get the money together to go to college, and to find a place to live.
His goal is to complete college, and eventually become a middle school teacher so that he can help other kids through those difficult times.
