Welfare

“God is my source”, is the main quote from the excerpt “Welfare”.   The section I read from “Welfare” was the “Welfare Brat”.  The story covered the life of the main character Larstella, who was born in Moses Lake, Washington, November 25, 1956.  She came from a family who struggled to make money, but refused to take the government’s handouts.  She was the middle child of five children. She had four siblings, two sisters and two brothers.

When Larstella moved to California, she started to go wild.  She would do drugs and have casual sex with different guys around Los Angeles.  Larstella first turned to Welfare in 1977 when she was 21 years old and first became pregnant.  She did not want to sign up for welfare at first, so she bought a Medi-Cal Sticker from a friend for $200 to get an abortion.  After she got the abortion, she went back to her old ways.  It was not until the 5^th time she became pregnant, that she decided to keep the baby.  Doing drugs, working and stealing money from the government, which stressed her out, made her child come a month before it was due.  Although her baby was premature, it was still healthy, but Larstella knew she needed to change her ways. She went to school, church, work, and eventually got off of welfare to better the life of her daughter.

Larstella’s testimony really spoke to me. I realized how blessed I was to be the first person in my family to go to an Ivy League college, and the first female in my generation to go to college.  In the first semester I played around and enjoyed the freedom of college.  It was not until I read this excerpt that I realized how important it was for me to be here.  I do not want to be like all the other females in my generation, having children and trying to get by each day.  I now know what my purpose is here at Spelman College.  God is my source, to succeed.