Born and raised in Oakland, CA, growing up out there for me was very hard. If you were to visit any of my neighborhoods, all you would see were crack heads or people fighting outside. I attended two elementary schools because I had to fight my way through school and grow thicker skin than the average kid. Living in Oakland was definitely not a place for a child to be raised properly, especially with a mother that was absent half of the time because she had to work.
I would say that being brought up in Oakland just really made me into a stronger woman today because I learned that fighting is only necessary when trying to protect your life. I had to grow up as a fighter because kids were always picking on me and my cousin.
When I moved out of Oakland, I think that was probably the best feeling of my life! My mom finally had enough with my rough upbringing and really wanted me to succeed in life. While living in Antioch, I no longer had to fight anymore, but my attitude stayed with me because I was so used to protecting myself at all times that I just felt like the world was out to get me, but all people wanted to do was help me become a better person.
I definitely would say that living in Oakland was the cause of that because if I haven't had to fight all of my early years, I probably wouldn't have been in so much trouble in school. When I was in middle school, I really think I spent more time in the principal office than I was in my actual classes because if I felt like a teacher was attacking me, I would attack back verbally. I'm not proud of my behavior, but it made me a better person.
