Digital Project #1

In my hometown, most kids my age who graduate from high school and decide to go to college. From a generation of 100 students, 60% decide to go to college. From that 60%, 40% leave the city and 17% go to local universities and only 3% leave the country. Unfortunately, not everyone comes back with stories of success. There are many factors that influence this such as language, culture, money, or just the fact of having to adapt to something they have never experienced before.

I was one semester away from graduating high school in Mexico, and I decided to leave my house, turn my dream into a plan, and pursue what I had strongly desired for so long. This decision was terribly questioned by family members and also people that liven in my hometown because it was basically going against the flow with a high possibility of failure. My decision was questioned hundreds of times but today I am here telling this story while I am living what I dreamed of for years.  I can happily say: I made it.

Working on an ENGLISH project at my school in Mexico. Always had the best grades in class.

I remember the moment I decided to start getting ready to embark on my trip. I was bored trying to find something to watch on TV, and I found a series that caught my attention: GLEE. Music, theater, and acting were my happiness and my passion. I identified a lot with the main character of the series because I felt that we were both going through the same stage of our lives.

American musical comedy-drama television series that aired on Fox network in the United States

Due to my love for the show, when I was twelve years old, my curiosity to study abroad began as well as my desire to strengthen my English and look for new opportunities. Everything was decided, when I turned eighteen, I would move to the United States to start my education and become what I had always dreamed of. I began to do research pursue bigger things, and set personal challenges for myself.

What I am experiencing now is a little different from what I thought at first because I had wanted to study performing arts. I realized how greatly this series had influenced my life but in reality it was not about doing exactly what the protagonist of the series did in order to succeed. Glee’s true message was to inspire us to lose the fear of what people could say, and have fun in the process. The show inspired me to question commonly held belie and to get out of my comfort zone.

I have always believed that we are the ones who chart our own path, that we are agents of change in our lives and in our future. Even though I always knew my parents were there for me, I was always looking for something great to pursue. Now that I think about it, since I was a very young age I lived my life this way. I always sought to be better, to surpass myself, and to do extraordinary things. The harsh reality of this is that most of the time my behavior was a response to wanting the approval of adults or wanting to seem strong.

Childhood pictures with some family members.

I always knew that my personality was different, and I knew that despite all the bad things I was going through in my life, the best was yet to come. I usually defined it as positivism, but it was not the correct word. Today, I feel that all the hard things I went through did not ruin my life. Instead they helped me realize I deserved more.I could adapt and strengthen my life if I set my mind to it. This was when I realized that more than positivity, I had resilience.

Unfortunately, the years flew by and the time to make a decision regarding my future had run out. Thousands of doubts crossed my mind, and I began to question if it was worth it to sacrifice myself for something that was uncertain. It was time to grow up and no one else could make the decision but me. My dream seemed crazy for many. It was said out there that it was more than anything because I wanted to evade living under my parents’ rules and to find freedom far from home, which, to be honest, there was some truth in that. I wanted to create my own path, I wanted to feel free to be able to make decisions without feeling like there was something stopping me.

The possibilities of failure were highly undeniable, but the truth is that I didn’t have much to lose. I lived well, but I never had the most ostentatious life. My Father was always my number 1 fan and the one who forged my brave and strong character. In the other hand, my mother was the one who taught me how to be a good person and live my life with a strong moral center. They both worked hard to give me a good life and although sometimes I could be a pain in the ass, they never gave up on me.

When the first opportunity presented itself to me, I took it. I never consulted or talked about my plan to anyone. At that moment my biggest fear was being judged and pointed out.in case it didn’t work. Thousands of doubts passed through my mind at this moment and the more I thought about it, the more questions and fears arose.

First picture I took when I got to USA.

There is an immense process that I had to go through to get to where I am at right now from the day I arrived to United States. It would take me an entire book to write about the wonderful experiences I have had as well as the experiences that were not very pleasant, but without a doubt they helped me to learn a lot about life.

Today I can say that the first step I took was the best decision of my life. Since that day, many things in my life have changed and most of them have been for the better. I look back and think about what it would have been like if I had followed the pattern that everyone in my hometown followed or if I had listened to what others had to say about my situation.

During the almost two years that have passed since I moved to the United States, I have learned that no one has the absolute truth and the future is not written down yet. There is no perfect plan to reach our goals and overcome our fear of failure, but it is up to us to make the right decisions that lead us towards what we desire with our hearts. And although it sounds cliché, yes! Everything is possible. You must be mature, resilient, honest, passionate, grateful but above all patient because the best comes when you don’t expect it.

Favorite senior pictures taken in May 2023, PROUD TO BE PART OF SIUE.

“File:Glee.Svg.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Glee.svg. Accessed 13 Sept. 2023.