Hillbilly Elegy

well in college required grit, and I had
far too little of it.
My high school record left much to
be desired: dozens of absences and tardy
arrivals, and no school activities to
speak of. I was undoubtedly on an
upward trajectory, but even toward the
end of high school, C’s in easy classes
revealed a kid unprepared for the rigors
of advanced education. In Mamaw’s
house, I was healing, yet as we combed
through those financial aid papers, I
couldn’t shake the feeling that I had a
long way to go.
Everything about the unstructured
college experience terrified me—from
feeding myself healthy food to paying my