FEEDBACK ON MY COLLEGE ESSAY?

It's my first draft, for Temple University. Honestly it was extremely hard for me to get all of this typed out because I just didn't know where to start. Temple is one of my top schools that I want to attend so this essay is VERY important because my ACT scores weren't that great so I need this to sort of make up for it. Basically I'm asking for help...honest reviews but please nothing too hurtful. I just want to write a good essay and I need help, thanks in advance. Life is always about trials and tribulations but, it depends on you to make the best out of it. I never learned the full extent of this until maturity and knowledge came my way. Every experience thrown at me was taken with a grain of salt. There wasn’t a moment where I doubted myself or gave up, it only made me stronger in which molded me to be the courageous, strong willed, and ambitious person I am today. When I was younger, growing up without a father was one of the biggest challenges of my life. At times when I needed him, he was never there. My mother gathered my brother and I, moving to America. My father was left behind and which caused the household burden to be placed on my mother only. Sometimes money would be so scarce, that we would be left wondering where to find our next meal. She worked long days and nights, with her head held high. Her motivation and integrity inspired me to want to pursue an education and strive towards success. In school, it was hard to concentrate sometimes due to my situation at home. It caused me to get distracted from my school work on occasions, which resulted in not so great grades. This discouraged me; I thought that I was trying so hard only to fail, but my mother always told me that, “Never give up because education is the only way out of poverty,” so I dusted myself off, etched my aspirations and goals into my mind and pushed forward. College is the biggest step, academically in anyone’s lives. It has always been my dearest goal to obtain a college degree. ---------------------------------------… ***Stopped there*** No, it's not done and yes I know there is grammatical errors but look besides that and que me in on if i'm going in the right direction. The EA deadline is tomorrow so I really need to get my essay in.