My life has been a wonderful 18 years full of ups and downs, but my journey to success has only just begun. I was born at North Central Hospital in New York. It was a special day for my parents, since I was their first son. Their hearts and souls flooded with emotion, and their eyes lit up with joy (so I assume). My father decided to give me his first name. I don’t know why, but I’ve always thought it was because he believed I would resemble him in every way, shape, and form. Boy, was he wrong.

When I was brought home from the hospital, I was introduced to my sister, who was seven years old. When she saw a baby wrapped in a hospital blanket and a little blue beanie she said, “I wanted a sister!”

“Well, that’s too bad,” my mom replied. “Sometimes we have to deal with things we don’t want. It’s part of life. You have a little brother, and it’s your job to be a role model and help guide him to success and a bright future. Promise me you will be there for each other no matter what happens.”

“I pinky promise,” agreed my sister (and she always has).

After a few months and countless diaper changes, my great grandmother suggested my mother go out and find a job while she and my sister cared for me at home. “What is a lady like me with no English going to do in a city like New York?” my mother cried in her southern Dominican accent.

“The possibilities are endless. You can accomplish anything you set your mind to. All you need is hard work and dedication, and you will succeed as long as you have a plan,” said my grandmother. Deciding that she was tired of being a housewife stuck home all day taking care of us, my mother went out into the world to look for a job.

Growing up in a poor neighborhood in the Dominican Republic, my mother never got a full education. At a very young age, she had to work hard as a maid for wealthy families in town. She had many brothers and sisters, so she learned the skills of hairdressing, styling, and housekeeping early on. With these skills, she was able to land a job at a local Spanish hair salon in New York City. My father, who was affiliated with gangs, drugs, and dirty street money, soon became petrified of my mother making a living on her own and leaving him. And so domestic violence issues began. Day after day, life for my mother became a living hell, and finally she couldn’t bear it any longer. So when I was four, my parents got a divorce, and my mom and I went to live with my aunt, her husband, and my two cousins. My sister moved with my grandmother to New Jersey. She loved her life in the quiet suburban neighborhood that was so different from urban New York.

I started pre-K in a Catholic school in the Bronx. Here I met my first friend from the neighborhood. Alex and I did everything together and soon became best friends. We also went to the same elementary school. It wasn’t long before I became very popular in school and around the neighborhood. By the time I was 10 I was known for being cool with everybody from block to block, and I knew all the cutest girls. All the attention went to my head.

I started to slack off in school and would roam the hallways with my friends, sleep through class, and clown around. I failed all my classes. Day after day my teachers would tell me, “You have to stay on task and do what you have to do. You are a bright student with the potential to do something great with your life.” My teachers would even come to my house to see if there was a reason why I wasn’t behaving and doing my work. They just couldn’t figure it out. All I wanted was to be popular.

I graduated elementary school because I passed the state exams, despite flunking all my classes. Alex, on the other hand, was class valedictorian. I was very proud of him because he was popular, like me, but he was able to find a balance between school and the streets. He had his priorities straight, unlike me. I knew it would hurt me in the future.

My first year of middle school was amazing. I loved my new school and met a whole bunch of new people. My first year flew by so fast – playing sports every day after school and having friends over to my house to play video games. I picked up a couple hobbies like skating and went to all sorts of places around New York. My second year of middle school I started to lose interest in academics again. I wouldn’t stay after school for sports, and my grades plummeted. I stopped doing homework. I only went to school to hang out, but I would always pass the state exams so I’d move on to the next grade. My eighth grade year I got so caught up with partying and having fun that my friends and I started cutting classes. We’d throw parties at friends’ houses, and we started smoking weed and drinking a lot.

I moved on into high school without learning much in middle school. My freshman year I struggled in math and failed most of my classes. Sophomore year I had to take extra classes to catch up, but I rarely went. What was the use of going if I just kept failing? I became very depressed. During this time I started making money on the streets and doing LSD, mushrooms, and smoking a lot more weed. I felt lost and didn’t know what to do with my life.

I never really believed in God or followed any religion growing up, despite my religious Christian family, but one day I was feeling hopeless and looked up at the sky and asked for help. I had no idea what I was doing, but something told me to pray. I prayed just like my grandma taught me when I was little, asking God to help me fix my life.

A couple weeks later, while skating in the park with friends after getting high, a girl passed by – the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. For some reason I was really attracted to her, though I had never seen her before. It was the strangest thing – like out of a movie. I asked myself, Am I gonna just let her get away? I was wondering what to say and feeling very awkward when suddenly she stopped to talk to one of my friends. I played it cool and asked him to introduce me. Her name was Ellen, and it turned out she went to my friend’s school.

Ellen smiled at me, and I felt such a connection with her; it was like love at first sight. She sat with me on the bench that day in the park, just chatting about our lives and random things. Before I knew it, it was dark and we had been talking for five hours! I walked her home and got her Facebook. I skated home cheesing so hard. I had met the sweetest girl ever!

It wasn’t long before Ellen and I were dating. I introduced her to my family and everything was perfect.

When Ellen came into my life she gave me a purpose. When I felt lost she was there for me, and I wanted to be there for her. I realized that one day I wanted to marry her and spend the rest of my life with her. I decided to slow down on the drugs and the street life, and take school seriously. I wanted to be able to support our family when we got older.

Ellen and I have been together for four years now. Recently I applied to a school that gives students who messed up in high school a second chance at succeeding and going on to college.

Throughout my life I’ve learned that no matter how dark things get, if you have faith, believe, and try, there will be light.