Never Give Up: My Life Motto

It is 8:00 p.m. Travelers running around, family members greeting to one another and a ton of commotion as far as my eye can see. There is nothing but silence and a feeling of overwhelming eagerness between us. We crack jokes and make conversations about what is to come. It is 9:00 p.m. I feel a knot in my throat, I smile, and they smile back, I hug them and thought that I was leaving my country to confront life in a place I have not been before. I saw myself being the part of a sunset, traveling behind a big barrier with a new life and dreams, hoping I will return to the same place one day with new experiences and my goals on my hands. Time stands still, until the announcer calls, “Flight to New York City, now boarding.”

On the first week of my arrival, I settled with my brothers and mother in a small apartment in Brooklyn, New York. My mother would provide me with everything I needed to survive in these lands. Having experienced the poverty in Peru, where if you study in college you live better than half of the population, I would take full advantage of the education in the United States. After days of searching schools I could attended I was enrolled in FDR HS, and although it was difficult adjusting to the new system, I kept my word on studying.

After a year of dedication, and doing everything to get on academic track, I passed my grades easily. I felt I was progressing, that is until I found out about the SAT late in my journey in High School. If I wanted to go to college I also had to write a college essay, and I also had to get into teams, clubs, do community service, etc. Realizing I had to accomplish all of this, I needed my father more than ever, but he was far away from me, I only had my mother and brothers to hold my back and to tell me that everything will be O.K. I felt like I was drowning. But No! I could not accept it. My father had raised me never to quit! I always give myself reasons to push myself towards what I really want. I want to make my parents proud of me!

At 14 years old I made a choice to move to a country I have never lived in, learn the language and complete my objectives of graduating from college. Imagine being fourteen-year-old boy, living in an unknown place, not speaking the language everyone speaks. Not even knowing what metro-cards or trains are or how to use them. Even though this big obstacle was over me, I could adapt me to the new life I have. I graduated from High School being a different person than of a simple kid living in New York. Everything without my father’s emotional support. We draw our strength from the despair in which we live.

When I started High School four years ago, I knew I had to begin emotionally stronger and with my goals still as a priority. Now I can simply say I would not change my past because without the things I went through I would never be the person I am now. I now know that the rich might have the money but the poor have goals of success and leadership to serve others.