My flustered face looks for an escape. My sweaty hand held on a little too tightly to my younger brother making him look up in wonder and protest as to why I kept squeezing so tightly. I thought how easily it would be if everyone spoke the same language. I slowly turn in a circle while a million ideas race through my head wondering what to do next. I realize I had not even taken a step towards the front door of the oh so terrible Baccus Elementary School and my heart had already skipped a beat. There is no other situation I can recall in which I have felt more lost or frustrated than that moment. I was even incapable of asking for assistance. For help. I slowly turned in all directions and saw all the other kids happily reunited with their school friends. They were normal. A normality I myself lacked. I had just arrived from Mexico and it was my day of class. First day of class in third grade. I could not read it, write it, or even understand the English language.

I came to realize that my shyness overpowered me. I wanted to pass unseen, unnoticed otherwise being noticed opened the door to questions. Questions I could not understand, questions I could not answer. This became a routine, my shyness prevented me from opening out until my motivation to learn more increased. Although, there were days of enormous struggle present and the exasperated faces of my peers pushed me into giving up occasionally, I pulled through for my family. The hardships they encountered to bring me to a better education, a better life style were more difficult than mine, so I had no reason to complain or toss down my towel. It was then that I decide giving up was not an option. This goal is kept with me to this day.

This changed me tremendously, I am no longer afraid to be different or wrong. I encourage failure because it is through mistakes that one learns. From bumps in the road that one’s motivation sky flies. Most importantly, from being different one shines in the midst among the rest. I have always strived to be better than yesterday. Always moving forward only taking a moment to look back in order to take a small view of the distance I have managed to traveled. The bumps in my road have lead me to accomplish many things; from being topped ranked in my class to joining track, cross country, soccer and groups such as Key Club, NJHS, NHS and most importantly youth groups like Arcoiris and Ninjas. From not knowing English to being where I am today show me how far I have traveled and how much more I can achieve. In me there will always be the little girl afraid of the unknown, but the determination to learn and experiment new things that woke in me since the third grade will drive me to excel in whatever I set myself to do.