Prologue - At a young age, it was evident that Steven had a gift. It seemed as though he was always steps ahead of others his age. As he progressed through school, the ease with which he was able to succeed was noticed by his teachers; many of whom were of the belief that they had never come across an individual as gifted as him before in all their years. It seemed as if the only ones unimpressed with his abilities were his parents. His father, a coal miner, worked tirelessly for hours just to keep the lights on for his seven children and his wife, Debra. Debra was responsible for the upkeep of the home and making sure all the kids were alive and well. One by one, it was expected that the kids would drop out and forego an education in order to get a job, no matter how low-paying, to assist in paying the bills. In 1973, it was time for Clarice, the only child older than Steven, to begin work. The reality of Steven’s future set in. While he didn’t mind the idea of helping his parents, he felt that he could go on to make a more profound impact elsewhere. If his parents were not going to provide for him financially the opportunity to attend a university, he would have to get creative. Story - After a lot of deliberation, I decided to just start …show more content…
As it turns out, things were not going so well. The mining had slowed down, so my mother had to begin working. What was I doing? This feeling of guilt that echoed throughout my body made me sick. Maybe I had made a mistake. I mean, what made me so special that I could choose to just leave the situation behind. I should be back home helping out my family. Every time I asked to speak with Clarice, I was always told that she was either busy or unavailable. Something wasn’t right. While turning around may have been the logical option, my quest for fulfillment hadn’t been reached; I had to carry on with my journey a bit