Before the 5th grade I was an amazing student. I was in advanced classes, put into programs to even further develop myself, and even received awards from the city and state for my ability. However, in my 5th grade class I came across a book that was mandatory for all of the city's 5th graders to read; "My Brother Sam is Dead." I read the entire book the day we got it, and the following day I was prepared for whatever our assignment was to be. The assignment came, 15 essay questions to answer. I completed the assignment up until the 7th question in which I didn't quite understand. You'll have to understand that up until my junior year of high school that I've had crippling social anxiety and that asking my teacher for help was, shall I say, difficult. So I never moved on from that question, letting assignments pass me by and eventually the rest of my group had read 3 other books while I was still on this one question. I became so backed up and was on the brink of failing the 5th grade. From that point on I became the worst student when dealing with homework assignments and other work. I became incredibly lazy and didn't see the point in trying anymore. I regularly failed classes through middle school and high school as my inability to complete assignments grew. Had I not tripped up 8 years ago it is likely that I would have done exceedingly well academically and set myself up for a great opportunity with colleges and scholarships, which I needed due to the fact that my mother was a single parent and was lucky to get a job with only a GED. I could've been something, and now that I've ruined a golden opportunity, I look down the barrel as an 18 year old with a poor future. This may not seem like something that no one would know, but I hid this from my mother. She's always ask about how school was and why I want doing so much anymore, but I could hide it well, talk my way out of the subject. It was the summer before high school that she found out about how much of a failure I was. So that is the saddest part of my life, that I am a massive failure and that I have no future because of how much I squandered my opportunities. Only my mom and I know, family have been lead to believe that I'm doing better, and only taking some time off for work.