I have to write a something (it can be anything as long as it meets the criteria) for my English class. We have to write osmething based on the poem “We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks (THE POOL PLAYERS. SEVEN AT THE GOLDEN SHOVEL. We real cool. We Left school. We Lurk late. We Strike straight. We Sing sin. We Thin gin. We Jazz June. We Die soon.”). We’re supposed to tell about the life of one of those pool players twenty or so years later.
I decided to do a letter convincing kids to stay in school. This is what I have so far:
Dear students,

A long time ago, when I was about your age, I dropped out of school to play pool and drink with six friends. It was a huge mistake. We didn’t realize it at the time, we were just a bunch of carefree kids, but soon enough, we would know of the terrible consquences.

It was about five years later when we found out how wrong we were. We were adults now, we had to grow up, get jobs, support ourselves because no one else would. But we couldn’t. We didn’t have educations, we were high school drop-outs and failures. Two of my friends committed suicide because they were so hopeless. Another developed liver disease from the beer and couldn’t afford treatment. He died several months later, in great pain and agony. So it was just me and three others, Jon, Bob, and Bill. Jon moved far away, and I’m not sure what happened to Bob.

So I was left with Bill, whom I went to rehab with for many years. After I got out, I worked at several dead-end jobs that paid minimum wage, trying to save up for college.

After several years of cleaning public restrooms, I finally made enough money to put myself through a couple semesters of community college. I continued working, and soon I was in medical school. I became a nursing assistant, and then a doctor.

I may have a somewhat happy of an ending but Bill didn’t do as well as I did. Bill refused to work, begging his parents for money, but they didn’t want to give money to their lazy, alcoholic, drop-out son. He became homeless, and now stands on street corners begging for a couple of quarters from whoever walks by.

Of course I was to blame for what I got myself into, but it probably never would have been as bad if I had a family. My mother died when I was young, and my father cared more for alcohol than he did for me. I used to dream that my father would actually be a father. And because of that, I don’t want to be a father, either, and I have no family still.

I’m not sure how to end it. I know it should say something about staying in school, because that’s the purpose of my letter, but I don’t know how to say it without sounding cheesy and cliche, like “Stay in school and don’t drink” etc.
Any advise on how to end it? Or what improvements can I make to my writing? Anythin at all is appreciated!

Please and thank you!
Raney, first, sorry that it took me so long to respond (and I doubt you’ll ever read this, but whatever), and LOL, no, this has never happened to me. I’m thirteen and I’m just trying to write this based on what I’ve seen in movies and such…
People, seriously, this is not a personal experience! I’m laughing so hard now, this is just a story! XD

At least I’m convincing…