Growing up, I was always more mature than people my age. I always wanted to be successful but I had no idea what I wanted to do in my life to make that success a reality.

I remember growing up in Mexico and meeting a guy that was about 9 years older than me. I was 12 years old back then, and I saw that my friend was living life comfortably because he purchased a condo complex and had money. I saw his success grow. He had a new phone, car, clothes, money, etc. and I got really excited because I saw what success could look like and that it was something I could accomplish. If he could do it, why wouldn’t I?

I wanted to bring all those good things to my family. So I decided I needed to go to the United States to work and study in order to make more money. I was born in the states after all, so it wouldn’t be that hard for me to go back and set a foundation for my future. One day, my dad asked me if I wanted to go visit the U.S. with a cousin. I thought this was my chance, so I decided to follow them and moved to see what was going to happen. At first, I was confused because it was so different for me in America. The lifestyle was different, the roads were different, and I felt like I was not home. Regardless, I made the best out of it until I realized my time and opportunities were not being utilized as well as they could have been. Therefore, I decided to make a change.

I found a job, started school, and a month after I got to the U.S. I started paying bills and helping my cousin around his house. Before long I started feeling like a slave. My cousin had me take care of his kids, clean his house, and help with odds and ends. A year and a half later, my cousin came up to me one day and told me he wanted me to quit work because, "I needed more time at the house to help his family." I didn't like that because it wouldn’t help me pay bills, send money back to my family, or help me finish my education. When he got mad at me for going to work, I decided to pack my bags and left to start on my own.

I shared my situation with my boss and he told me I could live in his house, pay him rent, and work for him as well, so I left. I only had 5 English credits and Capstone credits to complete in order to graduate. I was almost done with school. I heard that Bridges High School would be a flexible school that would let me work and study. It was also the closest to me, so I signed up and worked on graduating.

I’ve been so lucky to work in landscape in the summer, snow removal in the winter, and I do some maintenance work when needed. I have also been working with Ms. Andrea to get the credits I am missing. This experience has been a really good one because of the flexibility it gave me. It allowed me to get to know my teacher, I learned about a new school, and I was able to make new friends along the way.

It has taught me that bad things that happen to you in life are not always that bad. You can always get something good out of them if you really want them and work hard to get them.

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