If I had a dollar for every time they said no to me,
I could actually afford this ****** education.

"Has anyone ever told you that you couldn't do it?"
Well, no;
not directly.
But they don't need to say it.
I hear it every time they say no.
They've stopped even telling me no.
They simply shut me down waiting for me to find out from some secondary source.
Why should I believe in myself?
It leads nowhere.
What does believing in myself get me besides disappointment?
All it does it give me hope when I have nothing to hope for.
They don't say it out loud;
They leave a paper trail.