When my parents decided to come to America for a better life, they knew they had to do it for the better good of our family. I had not existed yet in this world when my mother and father crossed to America, but eventually I would have my arrival. The American life was tough for my family. First off, they could not speak a single bit of English and didn’t have anywhere to stay. Soon, after discovering family in Los Angeles they began building their family. My Mother was actually pregnant with my oldest brother Alex when she made the long trek from El Salvador to Los Angeles. My dad being the hard worker he is, took any job opportunities he could find. Usually, he worked in the gardens of wealthy men, trying to scavenge every penny he could. I do not know another person that works harder than my dad. Coming to America with nothing, he created the life he was seeking. Later on, the family would continue growing; having my brother Duane, and after moving from California to Washington they had John and me.
Growing up I spent a lot of my time moving from town to town. I’ve lived in Bellingham, WA, moved to California, then back to Washington. At this point, problems had stirred up between my parents and my dad decided to just leave. Too young to understand what had happened, my brothers and I pushed forward. My thoughts about my father are still the same but I believe that the award for hard worker has always belonged to my mother. Now that she was alone, she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. I know that she always tried hard to provide for us. She would do whatever it took to keep us in good hands. I remember at times we had to stay with other families when my father left because it was hard for my mom. I would say the hardship paid off. She raised 4 fine boys and only boys, into men.
Additionally, my thoughts on what would’ve or what could’ve been different if my father had stayed still linger. Being the youngest, I have always learned from the things I saw my brothers doing. If they did something, I had to do it too because I wanted to be like them. As I started getting older, I began to make my own choices, not because I thought I was too good for them, but because they didn’t always make good decisions. At this time, my brother Alex was not around, so it was my mom, step father, John, Duane, and me. First, it started with Duane. He was in high school at the time when he started to fall. For some reason Duane just developed a habit of not going to school. I can remember once hearing that he had miss basically half a year because of absences. Sooner or later, he decided to drop out.
Now, my brother John on the other hand didn’t really have the same kind of troubles, but they were similar. It seemed to me that he was fine. He went to school every day, played sports, and was well liked by people. Nearing the end of high school, I realized that he started to develop a sense of carelessness. Little did I know, John was credit deficient and although he was hoping to graduate high school, he wouldn’t be able to. His earlier years had really gotten to him and now were affecting his passage way to graduation. If you knew John like I do, then you would know that spending another year in high school is just not an option he would choose. John would see his pride as gone and he would see himself as an idiot for not being able to pass high school. So, he dropped out. Now that the two biggest figures in my life had failed in their own lives as far as school, I started to think differently. My prime objective and my main goal was to learn from their mistakes.
Though, everyone makes mistakes, I intend to keep mine to a limit. Unlike some people in my life, I never believed that school was the “root to all evil,” but that it was actually good. We’ve all heard the endless amount of “Hit the books hard” or “School is most important” and we never get the idea of what people are telling us. I wish that I had learned the lesson at an earlier age that school is the guidance to success. Just like John, my earlier years have brought my grades down, but I still had the opportunity to make them better. My grades have improved due to my attitude of not being like my brothers, but there is still so much I need to do and improve on. Every day, I know people are just waiting for me to crack, leaving me like my brothers. The truth is I am committed to do different. Though many believe that I will follow the steps of the ones before me, I believe in proving them wrong. I was put on this earth to show others that I can do it, to surprise, to shock, to make proud and be the first kid in my family to go to college.