my life by noel

my life by noel - December 2014 Scholarship Essay

I lived in Van Nuys, California almost all my entire childhood life. It was not until three years ago that I moved to Palmdale in a nice two story house, with a garage and even a backyard. I lived in an apartment before this and before that in a single room for my family to share. I grew up poor, but with a dedicated mother and goals that everyone had placed on me. I am dedicated and persistent and focused because I came from this world. A world where I got to be called a U.S. citizen while my sisters could not, and for that simple fact that most people take for granted, I will not waste it. I know that I have far more opportunities that many children in my past neighborhoods did not have.

I came from a world where I was told everyday to go to school and to help my parents take the clothing to the Laundromat and to stand up straight because if I did not I would end up like a viejito, an old man. At the end of the day when school was out, the parents would go pick their children up from the elementary school, and it saddens me today knowing that many of them will not even graduate high school. With my experiences, I knew that I could not become a part of this, not like my parents or like the kid across the street who dropped out of high school and now lives in his parents’ garage playing videogames and eating Cheetos all day long. When I was a child, I wondered if this was my fate. But it is not. I came from a family that fought over bills and what was right and what was wrong. My dad would drink everyday and my mother would come tired from work while my sisters took care of me. My community was tagged up, even my smart friends turned to writing nonsense on mail boxes and bus benches.

If you saw me now, you would think this was not true, sometimes I do not believe it myself. I am happy with the person I am today. I am focused on my goals and I never, not for a second, believe that I will not make my family proud. I am a musician, an artist, an athlete, a role model, a man, and I am the best person I can be today. My hardships, my world and the world that I have lived in, have made me realize if I do not try my very best then the world will not change for the better.