The Life of Anajessica

I was born on January 17, 1990, the same day as Benjamin Franklin, just a little F.Y.I. I am the oldest child of both my parents, my family or the people I live with consist of FIVE yes five girls and a dog; and with my father I have two younger brothers. My siblings are Jennifer age-17, Tony age-13, Patricia age-10, Gloria age-9, Steven age-8 and Vanessa age-7. I have always lived with my mother and my younger sisters, up until August 31, 2008, when I went to college. I am the first person in my family to go to college, but I will certainly not be the last. One of my main goals is to make sure that every last one of my siblings goes to college, even if I have to fill out the application for them. I grew up in Plainfield, NJ on West 6th Street; my mother has been a single parent for the last eighteen years. Growing up I had a lot of responsibilities as the oldest, the only person that brought any income was my mom. I love both my parents, but my mom had it the hardest with five girls. Thankfully I didn’t have to work or anything like that, but I did help clean, cook and care for my sisters. My mother is my inspiration because she really drilled into my head that college is the ONLY option. My mother has often stated jokingly, “If you want to jump off a bridge, you have to wait till I get your college diploma, then if you still want to jump I will give you a little push.” To me failing is not an option, I am not only striving for my mother and myself, but I am setting and leading the example for my younger siblings.

As for Rider, I heard about Rider my junior year of high school, by my guidance counselor, she had told me of their excellent Psychology program. I did my research and visited Rider; I immediately wanted to come here, so I did.