Am I there yet?

January 31, 2013

            I have always wondered what this day would be and feel like. It has taken so much preparing; hours of reading, early mornings and long days of school, and many late nights of writing. This has also taken tutoring and learning a whole new language and culture when I was about to graduate high school in the Dominican Republic at the age of 16.

Many years ago, I began to prepare for this day. Today, I look forward to enjoying all the great things that will come with it. Things like a decent job, the opportunity to live a decent life and save for retirement someday. When did the preparation begin?  First, I attended elementary school, then middle school, and finally high school. After that I thought I would attended college to study medicine and became a pediatrician. This was what my life looked like in my perfect world. Although I thought going to college was the next thing for me, I found myself going back to my sophomore year of high school. Unlike the first time I attended high school, this time it was in a different country and in a very foreign language. How would I ever accomplish anything? It was too late for me to learn such a thing as a new language. Maybe if had come to the United States at a younger age, I would have been on a college track. I have no idea why I thought such things.

In 2006 a new journey began. I was a sophomore at Manchester Central High School with probably zero chance of going to college. Why? Oh, because I knew absolutely no English. I was not in the advanced placement level classes that most students my age were in. Without a solid academic foundation, I had no chance at being accepted into any college. I had two choices; 1) I could look at the obstacle for the rest of my life or 2) I could face reality and just work as hard as I could to graduate high school and attend college. I picked the second choice because I did not want to live asking myself “what if?” After thousands of dollars spent on tuition, books, uniforms, and school supplies I am so close to reaching my goal. Against the forecasts of what the employment and unemployment situation will be by the time I graduate in May 2013; the number of  polls that show how much a college education is or isn’t worth, I am still very happy about graduation day. Actually, I cannot wait until I get to walk on that stage and hold the diploma that I so hard have worked for. Why is graduation day such a big deal? Graduation means that I have conquered. I have gone through many years of school and when I thought I was almost there, I had to acclimate to a new culture, way of thinking, living and language. Graduation day makes me feel like I have accomplished what I invested in for so long. It empowers me to look fear in the face and not be afraid anymore. Although sometimes the prize looked unreachable now I am overjoyed to say that “I am almost there”.