Iain

Iain, 19, graduated from high school last year and dreamt of moving away from the small town of Weare, N.H., and starting college. However, the reality of his single-parent family’s financial situation kept him at home. Iain has put his plans of becoming an English teacher on hold for this year, allowing him to continue to work as a dishwasher making $5.75 an hour. Iain’s meager income helps support his mother, grandfather and brother, 11.

My Story
Since my mom lost her job at the New Hampshire Bar Association, life has been hard for my family. My mother, grandfather, 11-year-old brother and I live in the same house. The four of us were evicted from our home recently because my mother couldn’t pay the rent, and that’s when I realized how poor we really were.

After I graduated from high school, I realized it would be important for me to stay close to home to earn money for the family, but my dream is to save enough money to start community college next year. There aren’t very many places to find a job in my community; however, I found a job washing dishes for minimum wage. My income combined with my mom’s modest income from her convenience store job supports all four of us. My grandfather’s Social Security checks help pay for his medical bills, and sometimes he’ll buy groceries, but my income means a lot to the family. I pay a lot of the utility bills, and I spend money on things for my brother. He’s going into high school, so I want him to have nice clothes and be able to be involved in extracurricular activities. He’s a great student. I can only hope we have the funds to send him to college.

My mother just found a full-time job with the New Hampshire State Treasury working on data entry. She’ll make around $25,000 to $30,000 a year in her new job, and now she’ll have benefits for herself and my brother. I’m not covered, but hopefully I’ll start college soon and have health care through the school.

Since my mom has a new job, it’s time for me to follow my dream and leave New Hampshire. I hope to move out of the state and start community college soon. I’d like to become a high school English teacher one day.

I worry that I’m just dreaming, and I’ll never be able to leave New Hampshire and my family. I know they need me and my income to get by, but I truly wish they can manage without me so I can leave in pursuit of a degree in English, something I love and really want.