Hush, silence.

All eyes up front!

Yeah, but what you didn't know was that I had to fight for my life the other night.

A gang. Maybe five. Seemed like a hundred. Wanted to cut me alive. Spill my blood all over the concrete for the worthless cash that I kept in my pocket. What's money compared to the soul?

Pay attention to the book! Read this chapter. Test Tomorrow!

But what you didn't know was that my father held my sister up by her golden hair and clubbed her senselessly with tight fists. 

Drunk with the intoxicating wine from a bottle. Possessed with a demonic spirit. Insults flew like spittle from his lips. All I heard from her was the calling of my name.

No talking! There's a lecture up front!

But what you didn't know was that the money was tight. Mother was getting desperate. She threw away her morals, her principles. Settled for the big bucks. What is money compared to the soul?

Enough. 

What you didn't know was that your lessons mean nothing when bellies aren't filled and safety isn't ensured. When tears are constantly streaming from eyes, because the pain has become too unbearable. What you didn't know was that I was slandered with words of discouragement, with vile screams that shoved knives into my brain, telling me that "You can't do it. You aren't good enough.."

So before you start telling me to focus in class and listen to your lectures, take the time out to stop....and focus on the things you didn't know.