I grew up in Oak Cliff and it was hard for me because there weren’t a lot of people that could have been good role models. I lived in a small house with my mother, aunt, and cousins. I had three cousins but the youngest was the one I choose as a role model. I choose him because he had good grades, was good, and taught me how to play soccer. He also helped me realize that I could have a good career in soccer.
In my neighborhood there weren’t kids to play with growing up. I only played with one kid who lived down the street named PJ, and then my front door neighbors. My front door neighbors had an older brother who taught me that the world would try to knock me down and not to give up pursuing my big goals. Two years later, he was killed. His death impacted me because I looked up to him and he taught me that the world was going to bring us down and it took him down. I was sad because I wasn’t going to have somebody to teach about life. After his death, I decided to focus more on my future and started searching for any opportunity that would help me.
In sixth grade, I started doing community service and one of my counselors suggested that I apply for AVID. I took her on that offer and did. I got everything done and gave it to her. I still remember when she told I made it in I really didn’t know why but I was excited about this. After the first day in AVID I knew it was for me because I knew there was no one who could help me like Ms. Watkins.
In my conclusion, I think this is why I am who I am today. There have been many obstacles that tried to get in my way but I never let that stop me. All of this has made me realize that it’s important to reach my goal as a soccer player and to one day be a video gamer designer.
Diego