When I was a small child, my mother told me about the incredible history of a foreign country that claimed to have countless opportunities to live and work. She told me that you could live in that country, and work hard so that my future was in that country and to succeed. That country, where I currently call home, is the United States of America. Each year my mother went to the United States to buy merchandise to sell in my native country of Ecuador, in a city near the coast called Portoviejo (the city I was born in).
While my parents went to America, my grandparents cared for me; they are my second parents, and they gave me a lot of love and affection. A few weeks after my grandpahad passed away,I still felt incredibly sad, but I soon found out that my life would change forever. My mother called me. It was raining, and I was once again nervous of what she was going to say. She told me thatshe was going to the country that she always told me about. My mother told me that she did not have the necessary resources to ensure that we went; she only had enough money for her.
She promised me that she would get me into the United States, but with the condition that I would improve in school, includingpassing eighth grade. At the time, I was a young boy who had neither good nor bad grades, and I didn’t know if I would ever see the “land of opportunity. ” The time passed by, and I knew that in a week my mother would go to the United States without me. With her,I was able to go out a lot, and Imademany close friends. That day arrived, and she gave me a memory that I liked, a poem, (the best poem that a mother could give to a child).
I started to cry. Even though my mother just left,I was sad and torn apart, and missed her immensely. From that moment on, I felt something change in my body that could not stop me. After not seeing my mom and living with my grandma for two years, I got the call of lifetime: it was my mom, saying that I was moving to the U. S. I managed to improve my grades in five subjects. Many teachers were amazed when my grades rose, and they began to congratulate me; I felt very happy. It was my last week in Ecuador, and I imagined that as I was making my way to a beautiful country.
The day came and I got to travel alone (it was my first time traveling alone), got on the plane, and I felt joy and great sorrow, joy to see my mother again, but the great sadness of leaving my grandparents. It was night, and as I was coming to the United States, I only saw many lights were very bright and saw something white. It was snow, something that I always wanted to touch and feel. The buildings were twice the size of the buildings in my country, and then I remembered the twin towers and the terrible event that happened there.
To be successful, you have to work hard and succeed. I want to be a successful person, and become someone in this world and for my mother to be proud of me. This is a life lesson, you do not know if tomorrow you will be with your family or not; you have to appreciate the people who are around you and know what you have. Since I arrived, I decided to excel in my studies and have more respect for teachers and other adults. I think I’m doing the right thing for my family and me.
