I, Ronald P., have a story similar to Michael Jerome Oher's. I come from a broken home where my father assaulted my mother. When I was one she tired of this and left him. He reentered my life when I was eight: a drunken, cocaine addict. My grandmother decided that he would not be a good influence and that I should not see him until I was a man. My mother who did her best suffers from Schizophrenia, a mental disorder which manifests as auditory
hallucination, paranoid or bizarre delusions, disorganized speech and thinking with significant social and occupational dysfunction; thus it is hard to deal with her. The best thing she did was
to give me the guidance needed for adulthood that I had to get on my own.

Furthermore, when my mother was incarcerated, I lived with my grandmother and my brother-- my role model and my mentor. On November 29, 2005, my brother, the most important person in the world to me was gunned down during an attempt to rob him. This storm that erupted has subsided but the cloud still hovers and sometimes it explodes. I thought of giving up on life, and as a result I nearly failed my last year in middle school. Faith in God,
mentors and family guided me, and I changed. A true triumph when one considers that neither my father nor grandfather made it to high school, my cousins dropped out with only one make it to community college. So my 3.0 grade-point average means a lot to me.

I am not owed anything; I did what I was supposed to do with my life, I don't believe in Affirmative Action, I believe in hard work and receiving what I earn. No, I did not have a traditional childhood, and yes, the statistics are against me, but I am determined to strive for excellence. I have maintained a 3.695 grade-point average, and I am in the top nine percent of my class. I have survived things that will drive others insane—and I am still standing.

My story is very similar to Michael Jerome Oher's; thus, I connected with his story. I love
his success. I’m glad the movie has a happy ending and his life is terrific, but during the viewing
my old memories recurred.