Everyone’s always worried about their future,

and there's never a time I don’t feel left out.

It feels like everyone is against me.

My doors of opportunity are frozen shut,

and they had been, my whole life.

I had done everything right,

and college seems so far, still.

Sometimes reality hits,

and I wonder, “Why should I try?”

I shook, dreading both a good and bad grade on the test.

One meant no college and the other would likely mean the same.

The lack of hope didn’t calm my nerves. 

It still felt that my entire future was riding on this one test.

I was always told to not lose hope before finishing high school,

but I knew this would do it to me.

Forced into a private school, finances were a nightmare.

We were barely making ends meet as it was, with both my parents working. 

I just didn’t see how I was gonna go to college.

Scholarships were a must, but even then,

I worked so hard to just be average.