Have you ever experienced any struggles? If so, what were they? Well, I sure have.
     At home, my dad is very hard to live with. For example, when he comes home late at night and our house is not clean and our chores are not done, then he abuses us. Most of the time, my dad stays out late and drinks. So, I was pretty much a father figure for my 3 younger siblings. Whenever we got home from school we would do our homework and get all of our chores done, so maybe when dad got home he wouldn’t whip us. Sometimes, even if he was just in a bad mood he would whip just because he wanted to. We lived in an old trailer and did not have running water, we did not have a toilet, so we had to use a bucket and then go dump it every morning. When I got older and got a job, I had to help pay the bills.
     My life at school was not very easy either. The other kids would pick on me and bully me. I really wanted to play basketball, but we could not afford it. All the money we ever got went to bills. So, I would just play at home with my brothers and sister. By the time I got to high school, I had made enough money to join the high school basketball team. I had practiced a lot at home, so I was pretty good. I played all four years in high school. I was the leader of the team, when I got down on myself, my teammates would too. The year I was a senior, we went to the state championship. There was 1 second on the clock and I had the ball at halfcourt. We were down by 2. I shot and hit the buzzer beater to win the championship game by 1 point.
     After that, I went to college on a scholarship, and then after college, I went on and got drafted by the Bulls in the NBA. After many years of hard work, it all payed off by the time I was almost 30 years old. Now, I live in San Francisco, California in my dream house with my wife and 2 kids.
     After all the hard work now and as a kid it all has payed off. To this day, my dad still denies that he did all that mean stuff, but in the end, the truth matters. So, the theme of my life story is too work hard and it will pay off.