What makes a person want to turn their life around? My life turned around the day that I almost died. I grew up around gangs all my life. At the age of 13 I was a leader of a gang. I was selling and doing drugs and getting in trouble with the law, until the day that I got stabbed fourteen times and ended up on a wheelchair. That's what made me want to turn my life around. Now I live on my own, work with kids, do public speaking, and I am currently working on getting my G.E.D to have a good career.

I work with kids because I want to see a difference. I do public speaking which gives me a chance to tell kids and people the real deal that it's not a game. I tell them what has happen to me from being in a gang and how I ended up in a wheelchair and how it has effected me. I am still moving on and keeping my head up and staying positive. They realize they don't want to end up the same way I did. So they decide to get out the gang, wanting to change, and have a better life not ending up in jail or dead.

I'm working on getting my G.E.D so I can go to law school so I can become a lawyer. I will be taking criminal justice and hopefully transfer to Boston University. Getting my G.E.D will help me out a lot and it will be a big step. It will open a lot of doors to me, which will allow me to open up my own business or program to help out the youth in the community.

I have been living on my own since the age of 16. I have my apartment and I have been doing everything on my own ever since. Now that I'm independent I'm able to do more for myself. It has helped me overcome a lot of difficulties in life that I didn't think I would be able to do. Now because of my independence I know that I can over come anything.

Turning my life around wasn't easy, but it was well worth it. Now my life is much better I'm helping out kids and people. I will soon be in college so I can be able to start my career. Now I live life to the fullest and don't let anything stop me. The only way you can do things that you want to accomplish is that you must be willing to do it and to change.