Published: Sunday, June 8, 2008
Sultan grad had to take charge
When Megan Drawsky was 1, her parents divorced.
When she was 7, her dad had a seizure and died.
At 13, the stepfather who raised her moved away. A few months later, foreclosure claimed the home she shared with her mom and younger sister.
Three years later, at 16, she woke up to the wail of sirens. Her mom's boyfriend came into her bedroom and said, "She's gone."
Her mom had died in her sleep of a mixture of alcohol and prescription drugs.
Drawsky and her sister, Marlayna Drawsky, were orphans.
She sat in the front row at her mom's funeral Mass, tears streaming down her checks, holding their 7-year-old half-sister on her lap and carrying her through the service.
Afterward, the little girl went to live with her father and the Drawsky sisters clung to each other.
Together, they moved into a one-bedroom cabin at a friend's house in Monroe.
It was Drawsky's all-time low.
She felt like a guest in the house. She missed her mom and the privacy of her own room.
As her life fell apart, Drawsky learned to take charge.
"Once she passed away, I realized, 'It's all on me now,'" she said. "'No one's going to support me. If I don't do well, it's all on me.'"
Drawsky started doing her homework. Her grades improved.
She continued playing soccer and became a stand-out member of the Monroe High School basketball squad. She volunteered as a girls basketball coach in Sultan.
The sisters eventually moved in with their 72-year-old grandmother in Gold Bar.
Drawsky transferred to Sultan High School. When she graduated on Saturday, she became the first person in her immediate family to do so.
The milestone is bittersweet.
She wishes her parents could see her and how far she's come.
Next year she plans to study at Everett Community College. She currently works at a coffee stand to pay for her living expenses and plans to pick up a second job to pay for college. She wants to earn a lot of money, because she knows she has no one to fall back on.
"I hear kids say, 'I hate my parents.' I shake my head and think, 'You have no idea.'" she said. "I've gone through things most kids won't go through until they're 40. I'm grateful because I'm not so ignorant of what will happen when I'm old. I have a clear view of what needs to be done."
-- Kaitlin Manry
When she was 7, her dad had a seizure and died.
At 13, the stepfather who raised her moved away. A few months later, foreclosure claimed the home she shared with her mom and younger sister.
Three years later, at 16, she woke up to the wail of sirens. Her mom's boyfriend came into her bedroom and said, "She's gone."
Her mom had died in her sleep of a mixture of alcohol and prescription drugs.
Drawsky and her sister, Marlayna Drawsky, were orphans.
She sat in the front row at her mom's funeral Mass, tears streaming down her checks, holding their 7-year-old half-sister on her lap and carrying her through the service.
Afterward, the little girl went to live with her father and the Drawsky sisters clung to each other.
Together, they moved into a one-bedroom cabin at a friend's house in Monroe.
It was Drawsky's all-time low.
She felt like a guest in the house. She missed her mom and the privacy of her own room.
As her life fell apart, Drawsky learned to take charge.
"Once she passed away, I realized, 'It's all on me now,'" she said. "'No one's going to support me. If I don't do well, it's all on me.'"
Drawsky started doing her homework. Her grades improved.
She continued playing soccer and became a stand-out member of the Monroe High School basketball squad. She volunteered as a girls basketball coach in Sultan.
The sisters eventually moved in with their 72-year-old grandmother in Gold Bar.
Drawsky transferred to Sultan High School. When she graduated on Saturday, she became the first person in her immediate family to do so.
The milestone is bittersweet.
She wishes her parents could see her and how far she's come.
Next year she plans to study at Everett Community College. She currently works at a coffee stand to pay for her living expenses and plans to pick up a second job to pay for college. She wants to earn a lot of money, because she knows she has no one to fall back on.
"I hear kids say, 'I hate my parents.' I shake my head and think, 'You have no idea.'" she said. "I've gone through things most kids won't go through until they're 40. I'm grateful because I'm not so ignorant of what will happen when I'm old. I have a clear view of what needs to be done."
-- Kaitlin Manry
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