I was a teacher and coach in the public school system for a bunch of years. I saw kids in the classroom and in the gym who came from many diverse backgrounds, but the high school where I taught for a majority of my career had an inordinate number of students who came from low and very low economic backgrounds or came from abusive situations. For some, that was an excuse to act out, misbehave or drop out. Interestingly, others used their situation as a strength and character builder and were able to excel both academically and athletically. There are lots of reasons why some use the situation to their advantage and others don’t, but the key point here is that no matter what your situation is or where you come from, what is important is – Where Are You Now? That is what you build on. That is where you grow from. What is past is in the past. You control where you are now and where you decide to go from there. Don’t let your past define who you are or dictate where you are going!