In my life, there have been good times, fair times and bad times too. The good times I remember dearly. I can recall the fair times. The bad times I usually try to forget. However, “bad times” can come in the shape of challenges that, when faced and ultimately conquered, can metamorphose into a beautiful experience just like when an ugly caterpillar turns into a magnificent butterfly.
At age four I started pre-kinder at a private school. In this school all the classes where in English and as a result English became my second language. As a present for my sixth grade graduation my mom and dad surprised me with a vacation to Europe, where we spent three weeks going to London, England, Paris, France, and Madrid, Spain.
I left my middle school and started attending an academy. This was one of the best times in my life because I got to meet new people and make friendships that I know will last for ever. While I was in the ninth grade, my father underwent open heart surgery and spent a month in an intensive care unit. I managed to concentrate on my studies and was nominated for induction into my high school’s chapter of the National Junior Honor Society. I studied hard for my family and for myself in spite of the difficult circumstances we were confronting. Finally my dad returned home.
I continued to do well in school . One day, the government expropriated the hospital in which my father had his medical practice and he lost his job of over twelve years. The biggest challenge of my life was about to begin.
Because of this we had many economic hardships. I had to move from my high school and I started tenth grade in a new high school.
My father found work in the United States. I left behind the balmy breezes, the year-round warm climate, my friends, my relatives, my church, my food and my Spanish language. I wondered if I would be able to survive the cultural clash that I would be facing in this country. I was worried about my capacity to adapt to a new and different environment. I had doubts about my ability to excel academically in the United States even with the fluency in Spanish and English that I had acquired throughout my years in private schools. I knew I would have to work hard to realize my dream of being admitted to a university.
I started my junior year at Celebration High School. I studied very hard and my work is paying off. I was nominated and inducted into my high school’s chapter of the National Honor Society and was elected Secretary of Student Government at the beginning of my senior year. Again, as a graduation present my parents took me to Europe where we spent a month going to Paris, France, and Seville, Toledo, and Madrid in Spain. It was this trip that inspired me to study architecture.
