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This I Believe: The Problem With Statistics

ally elzy midshot
Beatrice Bonner
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NPR Illinois 91.9 UIS
Ally Elzy - Sullivan High School

I am seven times more likely to get pregnant as a teen. I am two times more likely to drop out of high school. I am four times more likely to commit a crime. All of these seem to be a little off for my story because I am not a statistic I am so much more.

When my dad passed away, I was only seven. Afterwards, all my family ever heard were the awful statistics about how I would turn out because I did not have a dad.

For years, I stopped going to church on Father’s Day, because of their demeaning attitude toward fatherless homes like mine. At school, I got offended when local police and crime specialists came to talk about topics like drugs and alcohol; It always ended with the drug addicts or alcoholic teens coming from fatherless homes. I was embarrassed because I didn’t have a dad. It was like people expected me to fail because of my home life. But who were they to tell me how I would end up?

I now work harder, study longer, and keep my attitude as positive as possible. I refuse to be a part of the unkind statistics involving one-parent households. Even after all I have heard, I reach high for my goals because I know I am capable. I am no longer ashamed of my one parent household. I believe that statistics do not define me.

I am Ally Elzy, I am a student, I am a leader, and I am from a fatherless home.

Ally Elzy
Credit TAMARRA NEWBERN / NPR Illinois 91.9 UIS
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NPR Illinois 91.9 UIS
Ally Elzy reading her essay at the Rotary Club of Springfield Sunrise.

Ally Elzy
Credit TAMARRA NEWBERN / NPR Illinois 91.9 UIS
/
NPR Illinois 91.9 UIS
Ally Elzy receiving her scholarship at the Rotary Club of Springfield Sunrise meeting.

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