I was on significant financial aid, an only child, with parents who didn't have much living in North Carolina.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I grew up in poverty. For 25 years I was fed on aid.
My parents didn't have any money.
I was a single parent, and I was prohibited from working.
My parents did not pay a cent for my education; they didn't give me a car or furniture - I did that 100% on my own. I had to pay back a lot.
In my family, there was one cardinal priority - education. College was not an option; it was mandatory. So even though we didn't have a lot of money, we made it work. I signed up for financial aid, Pell Grants, work study, anything I could.
I was trying to support a family with writing. I didn't have a private income. I had no other profession.
I was a single dad in New York City, raising a child and pursuing a career.
I was just a regular kid in poverty, struggling.
I was the only kid out of six of us to go to college, primarily because my parents could not afford it.
My mother was a public school teacher in Virginia, and we didn't have any money, we just survived on happiness, on being a happy family.