My testimony, my story

Is not full of fame or glory.

I'm just a student trying to make it through the day

Just a young adult whose only option is to pray:

Pray for my family that is too far

Pray for the fees of tuition and parking my car.

At first glance I may not be much

My blonde curly hair says too much.

My full smile and stained-glass eyes

Hide the pain and my desperate cries.

My clever wit and unseen strength

Hide under a petite little frame.

Already struggling, I search for funds

To pay for a fancy paper saying I'm done.

It's almost better to find work with no degree

With lower pay but mostly debt free.

I, like many, recieve little help, certainly not enough

For though I live away, my parents make too much.

It doesn't matter that four others are on the way

Nor that the government takes half their pay.

Though I am smart and quickly learn,

For a letter on a paper is not what I yearn.

I am nothing too special nor too plain

And I haven't experienced "worthy pain."

Am I worth less than any of these?

Just because no one sees?

Though the media likes to shout

"Don't leave anyone out!"

This is exactly what they do though;

Leave out those who don't follow status quo.

Any who have morals, expectations or rules

Are labeled uptight, judgemental, and uncool.

And look out if someone starts using their head

Becauses then the system falls over dead.

I am one of these, and I am considered a freak

But I'm not fickle like the wind or shallow as a small creek.

Though it makes a struggle for life

Bringing some joy and more strife

It's the one I've chosen to live

No matter how unattractive.