University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth College, Columbia University, Cornell University

A mother’s love is something more often than not, taken for granted. A mother’s sacrifice—time, money, energy— for the sake of her child is a given in most parental relationships. However, growing up, my mother practiced a draconian child-rearing method, which caused me doubt her love for me. You see, my father left my family when I was just two years old. My entire life, I believed that it was my mother’s sense of bitterness at not being able to hold onto a family that caused her to speak to me so harshly and maintain an icy distance. As I found no comfort in my mother, I had no one to share…