Hey there, this is my story of growing up rich and losing it all.
When I was a little kid, life was easy.
We had 2 maids and they bought me whatever toy I wanted. So I never had to wait for my birthday or Christmas.
I also went to an expensive school, but I never did any homework, because my dad had hired a tutor who did all the work for me.
Yeah, okay, I was spoiled, but I was an only child and my parents had the money, so why wouldn’t they spend it on me, right?
Well, today I wish my parents had been stricter. Maybe then I would have been prepared for what happened next.
You see, my Dad had made lots of money from his own company. He had built it up from nothing and became a millionaire.
But then something went wrong and the government shut his whole company down.
We lost everything and had to move out of our beautiful home and into a small apartment. Luckily, we weren’t homeless, but still… life became very hard overnight.
While my parents were struggling to find jobs, I was struggling with the most basic things like getting myself ready for school. No one was helping me. And when my mom told me to take the school bus, I freaked out and screamed at her that she should drive me to school.
But my mom was so stressed that she yelled at me: ‘shut up and stop annoying me.’
I was shocked and got even more angry because no one had ever talked to me like that before.
After a few weeks, I switched from my private school to a public school and things were very different. The food tasted horrible and most of the teachers couldn’t remember my name.
I also got some pretty bad grades, and instead of helping me, my parents just called me lazy. That’s when I realised that I had to learn to depend on myself.
Even though those were the toughest years of my life, I'm grateful for the experience now.
And luckily, things got easier after my dad had a promotion at work. My mom stopped cleaning houses and I got a new tutor. Her name was Isabelle and she always made sure I did my homework.
And when I started doing my own homework, I discovered that I loved math and that I’m really good at it! You can’t imagine how excited I was, to show my dad my A- math exam. He said that he had never been more proud of me and hung it right onto the refrigerator.
Recently, I met up with some of my old friends from before. And I realised how spoiled they were. One of them complained how her father refused to buy her a new designer bag, even though she already had so many of them.
To me it seemed ridiculous to complain about something so unimportant and stupid. But maybe I would have been just like her if my parents hadn't lost it all.
Now I'm at college studying engineering while also working at a clothing store 5 days a week to help pay my tuition. I’m always tired, but I don't wanna complain because I know that many people have it much, much harder.
It sounds strange, but I'm kinda glad my parents went broke. It forced me to work hard, overcome challenges and appreciate what I have. I’m a useful person now, and not just some an entitled leech.
