My name is Sebastian and I left home at 17.
Life before I left home was pretty good.
It had its ups and downs, of course.
I had my brothers and sisters around, we had jokes, you know.
I went to college like every teenager does. It was pretty good.
I came back from college one day.
I was quite tired. I asked my father if I could just go to bed.
I asked him if he needed any help doing the garden.
He said, "No, it's okay. You've got hay fever."
"Just go to bed or watch the football."
He came into my room and was like, "Why are you not helping me?"
I was like, "Dad, come on! I just asked you."
He just went a bit nuts.
He decided to tell me to leave and...
I think everything just built up, you know, like his daughter dying,
and the relationship with my mum and him broke up,
so there was a lot of compressed anger
and issues that he didn't get out.
That day he just happened to, you know, release it all.
I was quite scared as he's a martial artist!
I don't really want to mess with him!
So, I packed my college bag and a few things in a rucksack,
I said goodbye to my brothers and sisters.
I was a bit unsure what I should be doing.
I rang my mum, she lives in Cambridge.
I went to hers and stayed at hers briefly,
but her boyfriend didn't really want myself living there.
So, I called the council
and arranged a meeting for three days' time.
I went to the council office.
The lady gave me a form to fill out and then just walked away.
I was like, "What am I meant to do? I can't read this. I have dyslexia."
And, I couldn't read it at all, so I just burst into tears.
I thought this is all I had to do.
If I do this, I can go back to college and move on,
but it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be.
I thought I would just get a council flat, you know.
That wasn't the situation.
So, I ended up in a hostel.
It was a mixed hostel, so you had young people,
young people with families, elderly people,
ex-drug users, people that go to AA and things like that.
And, I've never really known anyone that does drugs before going there.
It was quite an experience.
One of my best friends drove me there.
At the time, I only told three friends about my situation.
I was kind of scared to tell anyone that this is what's happening to me.
They were used to me walking around in Prada clothes.
It was quite shocking for them and quite embarrassing for me.
After getting the keys, I was just left in this room with one sink.
And I was like, "What do I do now?" you know.
When you are in a hostel in a room on your own,
and you've got time to think about things,
I've just said goodbye to my brothers and sisters,
"Am I going to see them again? Is my dad going to let me see them?"
"Why has he reacted in such a way?"
"Is it my fault?" For a long time, I was like, "Is this my fault?"
After the initial bursting into tears and things like that,
all emotions just kind of drained
and I was just solely focused on becoming successful.
I was adamant that I'm not going to quit college, I'm not going to miss a day.
Get myself a good job. Get myself my own house.
Just to, not to prove to my father, but to prove to myself that,
I'm not going to let this minor thing affect me for the rest of my life.
I went into a house share after the hostel,
my first time sharing a house with somebody I didn't know.
It was a new experience to say the least!
The guy that was there seemed to be quite nice,
until one day I kept hearing like a thudding noise.
It was him beating up his mate.
Later on, I found out he was on glue, marijuana and alcohol.
I pulled him off his mate, I was like "Calm down." He pulled out a knife.
Fortunately, I'd done some martial arts when I was younger.
I disarmed him, put him in an arm lock.
I put the knife in the kitchen.
He started going absolutely crazy and I couldn't really control him.
I didn't want to hurt him, I didn't want to punch him,
because usually he was quite nice to me, you know?
So, I called the police.
Later on, they found them at a nearby train station.
Then they brought them back to the house with me there.
I'm pretty sure there's a lot of teenagers that just want to move out,
because your mum might be moaning, telling you to clean your room,
but that's really not a good enough excuse to move out,
because, you know, it's not...
It's not as nice out there as it may seem.
The grass isn't always greener on the other side.
I was on a scheme with the job centre called Essex Unite.
I got some work experience at this law firm with MITIE.
MITIE is like a service provider, a really big company.
At the end of the work experience, they offered me a job.
I was like, "Yes, I got a job!"
It's pretty cool being there, Everyone's suited and booted.
I've always wanted to be in the city.
It was extremely difficult to get the place I live in now but...
You know, throughout all the trials and tribulations,
I managed to get it in the end.
I'm currently sitting on my own sofa on my own cushions, which is great!