iSound

I was born in 1987 and raised in Mattoon, Illinois (about three hours south of Chicago). My family was hard-working, especially my dad. He was in the military, so he never got a college education and just works in a factory at a job he hates to put food on the table. I’m real proud of my mom too, she’s worked real hard to get where she is. Both of my parents were dirt poor as kids, so I think they really wanted to give me what they couldn’t have. The thing about it is that they were working hard just to barely make it. I think that’s the case with a lot of different families. All around me there are families that are poverty stricken and in terrible conditions, but I was lucky enough to never be at that point. In the middle it’s just as hard though because we weren’t able to quite get assistance, but we weren’t rich in Mattoon either. It has its good parts and bad neighborhoods just like any other place. A lot of people see that I’m from such a small town and just laugh because Matt...