~Akshaj Ghanta, Class of 2023

A story of my elementary school days…

“It didn’t matter how big our house was; it mattered that there was love in it.”

Peter Buffet

Family are the only people who will trust you immediately. It was my family who trusted me when no one else did. When nobody else believed me; when nobody else would listen to me, I knew that my family would listen and believe me. I knew they would open their hearts and their ears and listen to my plight.

I learned this when I got in trouble at school in my elementary school days. I had seemingly intentionally injured another kid very badly, although I didn’t.

School had just ended, and my mom was waiting for me at the front of the line. I opened the car door and quickly slammed it shut; knowing the discussion that was about to come. My mom, who was sitting in the front seat, turned her head to look at me. She asked me what happened; and I explained it to her with full honesty. I begged her to trust me, and she did. 

Although my teachers didn’t believe me; although my friends didn’t believe me, I knew that I could rely on my family. All that mattered to me was that my family knew the truth. Once that happened, there was nothing we couldn’t do.

For me, the only thing that mattered was that my family believed me, because in the end, family is all that really matters.