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| Evening ESL Essay Contest Award Winners Alejandra Montes Martinez Guadalupe Quintero Manuel Valencia |
Here, with her permission, is her essay:
Never Give Up!
When someone grows up, he or she is surrounded by all the things around them. As we are trying to be better than what we are actually now, everything around us also becomes better. To become a well-rounded individual, go ahead and challenge yourself, never give up, try again and again; always remember what you want in your life. Don't forget to be humble and be willing to learn every day. Take the risk to follow your dreams. Always fight for them.
Let me start off by giving you some information about myself. My name is Alejandra Montes Martinez. I am from Mexico and I have a rather unique and interesting story to tell. I was born in a small and poor town twenty eight years ago. I grew up in a very poor family. I never had enough clothes to dress, basic food to eat or new shoes to wear. Despite of all that, I instinctively developed my dreams. In my family, I have four sisters but I always knew that I was different from them. While they were paying with dolls, I was looking for books or magazines in the trash can. I dreamed of becoming a beautiful young lady, with fancy dresses and high heels. Having such an ambition to be a successful person at the time was so important to me. All of a sudden, time flew by so fast. I left my Parent's house when I was sixteen years old. I started to study and worked so hard on my own without any help. In terms of finance, I never had enough money to support myself. I needed to pay for a lot of daily expenses, but still I had many dreams I wanted to fulfill. Sometimes I only had twenty Mexican Pesos to survive for a week. Sometimes I needed to walk for hours from my work to et home. It was a difficult time to say the least, but I never gave up. My goals were clear in my life. When I finished my high school I was the best student. I started University in 2006, I wanted to become a lawyer, but I had the same financial problem as before. I was so poor at the time. I had been working so hard since 2007 helping a lot of people fighting for human rights and defending noble causes. For example, some parents abused their children while I was working as a lawyer in the Government in Queretaro, Mexico. I had to defend those abused children by placing them in a safe and nurturing environment. In 2010 I got my degree in Constitution Law and subsequently in 2012 I acquired my master's degree in Public Administration. I kept working in the government to develop many programs for the population in Queretaro especially with kids who were in need of having a new life. But I dreamed of a big challenge for myself that I could achieve by traveling around the world and helping needy people.
After I obtained my bachelor's and master degree, life gave me a new meaning to be the successful and fashionable young lady I always wanted to be. One day I was alone in my house sitting on the floor thinking and crying about my future and my life. I made the instinctive decision to work in Non-Government Organizations (NGO's) and travel around the world helping people fight human rights. I especially wanted to defend women and children. By the time I realized that I made the decision that my life was changed, I began to abandon and elave all the wonderful things behind in my country in search of this new path of life opportunity. Surprisingly enough not only did I not feel any resentment about leaving behind the privileged life I had in my country, but also felt rejuvenated with new hope and motivation to land myself in the United States of American in January 2014.
I had a very smooth transition since I left Mexico. Fourteen months ago I came to this country that I didn't know anything about, particularly speaking English. I recognized that the key to any success is that in order to open the door for me in the future is that I must learn English, no matter what. This school is definitely essential to allowing me the opportunity to achieve my goals. Since I came to this country, I learned different survival skills every day that I could instantaneously apply towards my personal life. San Mateo Adult School brings me the unique opportunity to develop my personality and confidence. And my teacher are great supporters of my dreams and talents. I'm really grateful to this school and I want to give good advice to all of you to enjoy this wonderful institution because we an always be in great situation by having San Mateo Adult School as our second home and it is the key for us to achieve all of our dreams. With my confidence and belief, I'm continuing to reach my goals even though sometimes when circumstances were not being the best, I never gave up.
Life is never easy to say the least. There is not a magic wand to help us fix the things surrounding our lives. Everything is in our hands. All we are called upon is to shine when we were a child. For instance, when I was referring to myself being a young child, I immediately felt and believed that I had the potential to succeed at anything in my life. We need to liberate ourselves from our own fears. Nobody can do it for you. Now, if you know what you are worth then go for it and fight for the things that you want. But keep in mind that you need to be ready to accept any challenges that may be presented during the journey of your life. All of us are individuals and we have a special value within us. You are actually better than you think you are. You are free to make decisions on a daily basis with courage, determination and the willingness to confront any failure and learn to made adjustments accordingly. Remember, always fight for your dreams and never give up. Find strength in yourself and the truth will suffice. Thank you, Alejandro, for sharing your inspiring story.
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