There are multiple factors that affected the way I grew up and shaped the person I am today. But the most notable experience that made me more mature was hearing one of my grandma's stories from when she was younger. Before she told me this story, I would view her as the typical “get good grades or you’ll be homeless!” type of grandparent. She’d always tell me how important my education was and to do all of my homework (which seemed to never get through to me because I would still not do it sometimes). While this annoyed me, I knew she was right, I just never had the motive to do the work. However, the day my grandma came back from her 5-month trip to Ecuador, she decided to take some time to catch up with me. During this conversation, she asked me about how my school life was going, how my friends were doing, what I was doing outside of school, etc. Then she started giggling and began to say “ohh i remember that time when..” and I immediately knew she would go on a tangent like always. However, this time it felt more important as she paused to look at me with caring eyes. She began telling me how in her neighborhood, it was common for there to be shootouts and that her family would need to hide under the tables constantly in order to avoid getting shot. It felt like it would be her last day on Earth almost every other day. “I used to be very much like you, I wouldn’t take my work seriously, and I would just bet on the fact that I would get lucky and land a job”. However, she didn’t realize that because her family was struggling financially, they were all in this situation where they may die at any moment. This was why her parents put so much pressure on her to become successful, so she could save herself one day from the miserable situation that she grew up in. After listening, I felt like I had a change in the way I thought about school, and how I thought about the troubles my grandparents went through to become more successful today. While I still sometimes ignore the work that I am given, when I do decide to do it I think about what my grandma told me. I also came to appreciate how fortunate i was to grow in an environment without violence and with proper care.