As a young black woman growing up on the hardcore streets of North Philadelphia, you have to strive and fight for everything. The negativity and madness can grab and swallow even the most well-behaved kids. You live under the influence, and just become another stereotype talked about in the newspaper. Throughout my life, witnessing these many types of everyday situations, only made me want to better myself and show others that there is an alternate path to take. With the support of my family, positive thinking was always a factor within my life. Unlike the outside streets of North Philly, I chose to live in a house where love, and support flourished. A home where you was pushed and encouraged to do your best. Both my mother and father were raised on the same disastrous streets and did not finish school. However they were two strong individuals who were not influenced by the norm, but was determined for their children to be something in life. They refuse for us to end up like a stereotypical North Philadelphian.They have provided both my brother, sister and I with some of the best schooling within the Philadelphia area in order for us to have a brighter future. As parents, they showed me to always drive for the best, and being driven is a quality of being a leader. When I was enrolled into Philadelphia Performing Arts Charter School, I felt as if I was in a whole new world. It was a very diverse community, in which i was not use to. It was also much more of a positive environment other than my neighborhood. Attending elementary school in such a suitable diverse community and making new friends that i never knew that i could make influenced me even more to retain in affirmative activity and encourage me to be successful in life. When it came to choosing high schools, everyone normally chooses the neighborhood school just to be with the in crowd, not really for the education. Myself on the other hand, decided to attend Country Day Sch