PROGRAM — Alabama Opportunity Scholarship Program

Devin is a high school senior attending private school with help from the Alabama tax credit scholarship program.

My story is probably very similar to a lot of young people today. My parents never married, so I was being raised by a single mom who was overworked and underpaid. I started at my school when I was three years old. They had a daycare there which worked out for my mom’s schedule. My dad never had much to do with me and never paid child support. I found out as I grew a little older that this was a blessing since he was into drugs.

My mom continued to work and did marry but that ended after the birth of my little brother. My mom was so stressed out, the majority of her time was spent at work trying to make ends meet. So my little brother and I spent a lot of time alone. My school became my second home.

I grew to love my teachers and the students that I had grown up with. I was able to get involved in sporting events and it appears I was pretty good. There was a point in my mom’s career that things were looking bad, and I was told that we were going to transfer to a public school. Now that I look back, it’s un-telling where my life would have turned if that would have happened. But my high school principal sent home a packet one evening and my mom filled it out, with a hope and a prayer. It was accepted and the rest is history.

I was able to stay in my school and it gave me the confidence that I needed. It was my home, my family, and my future. I graduate this year with honors and will head off to college. There is no doubt in my mind that I’m where I am today because I was given the security that I needed, the chance to become more than just another statistic. And it’s because of this scholarship.

I didn’t have a normal family but I had a school family and school choice gave me that. I will always be grateful for that opportunity. I owe school choice for my future.

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