I would like to begin this personal story with complete respect for my parents who did the best they knew how. I was not a planned baby to two young parents but was welcomed and loved. However, the stress level for me growing up was pretty intense. One parent was depressed and the other was a walking anger time bomb that I was never sure when it would go off or for what reason. There were five children with me as the oldest so I took most of the brunt of the anger becasue I felt I needed to protect my siblings. I was intensely shy and terrified of most adults. I hated school and felt the safest being outside or in some imaginary world. My mother told me I had an IQ test, as was customary for the day, and I was way above average. I never felt "smart" and barely made it through each year with a passing grade, I struggle with this self-concept still today. Children often grow up with the self image they are taught as young children and I am no exception. I feel extremely disrespectful discussing my parents in this way becasue they grew and matured and, as I said before, did the best they knew how. I feel my young childhood was influenced by the stress in my household and it affected many aspects of my life, but I am strong and resilient and I worked hard to instill this into my own children and each of my students.