Geo Friend-Lee - Education is Everything- (Full Poem) lyrics

Confusion and blank stares sit upon my face, as my mom sits upon the stairs with tears upon her face, in her hands I see paper, but in her eyes I see disgrace, I'm thinking to myself, why is she in this state? Then she looked me in the eyes and said "Education is Everything"!! I realized, she had my middle school rejection letter in her hands, she places it in my hand, and again she says, "Education is Everything"!! Out of respect I stood silent but in my mind I said a lot, I thought, "Even though I was not accepted, I know Im not a fool, It's just another stupid school, with too many rules, plus their uniforms are not even cool" But in reality, I just stood there and cried, Not because I was denied, but because my mom was disappointed and I didn't understand why, As she went on and on about how she never expected, for me, her son, to ever be rejected, I still didn't get it, I just walked to my room and called it a night, little did I know this conversation would save my life, Expectations Less than 2 years later, My mother was no longer living, she succumbed to the disease that k**ed my father three years prior, But the feelings of letting her down lived deep in my heart, right next to the images of her body breaking apart, and directly under that, these words were engraved really dark. "Education is Everything"!! It finally hit me, These are the words that she wanted to instill in me, before she had to leave, She knew she didn't have much longer to live due to this disease, She knew I would be, an "orphan", Through my many trials and tribulations, These are the words that helped steer me in the right path, Straight to perfect attendance, above the honor roll, right through high school, with great grades, because I always remembered that day, and the painful expression on Mama's face, And when it came time to apply to colleges, to write an essay for multiple scholarships, "Education is Everything" was exactly what I titled it, This was my motivation to be all I can be, to climb mountains with these words tattooed on my sleeves, looking down at it every time I was in dire need, Of Motivation. And, when it came time to become a first generation college student, I had the mental strength and perseverance needed to get through it. When it was time to move to a town in the middle of nowhere, I had no fear, I was ready, When it was time, to be a walk on the scene with the baseball team, I was ready, When it was time to work in the campus kitchen to pay tuition, I was ready. When I was cut from the team, and cut from my dream, I was ready, When my college degree was in doubt and I felt like dropping out, I was ready, To work three part time jobs, and be a full time student, Because again, I had the mental strength and perseverance to get through it, And on college graduation day, I stood on the stage, chosen to represent all of the "Education" students, In the pouring rain, I knew it, was my mother's tears, of joy, and through the cheers, all I heard in my ears, were the words "Education is Everything" in my mother's exact voice. I looked into the sky, to let the rain hit my face, As my future as a teacher awaits, I thought to myself "Mama, I Made it."