Persistence, Risks and My Life

Have you ever wondered what if? Have you ever given up on something because you got too lazy or decided that you couldn’t do it? I have, but it’s never too late to start believing in yourself and accomplishing what you start. Life is about taking risks and seeing what’s on the other side and sometimes we don’t realize that until it’s too late. I believe in persistence and taking risks in life.

My life has been like a roller coaster. There has been a time when I wanted to give up and throw my life in the gutter; yet there have been times when I wanted to be somebody who everyone looked up to and admired. When I was fourteen, I dropped out of high school and decided I wanted to work construction for the rest of my life. In that time I remember thinking, “Why go to school if I can make money without wasting money and time there”. I never realized that the people who owned the company made ten times the amount I did, and hardly ever touched a hammer or a nail.

I remember one Saturday morning in august I woke up at five a.m. and did my daily routine. I loved making coffee; the sweet smell of it just drove me crazy and it got me ready for the day, but that day the coffee didn’t smell as good and I didn’t wake up glad that I wasn’t at school. I remember I was at work and the acrid smell of cut wood was making my stomach turn. I sat down to repose for a second and suddenly I started thinking of all my friends and the teenage life that I was going to miss out on. I decided I was going to go back to high school and push through all of my classes until I graduated.

My junior year in high school was my most difficult year. I had many temptations and was hanging out with the wrong crowd. I remember my math teacher Mr. Berry once told me, “Marco you are a very bright student with a lot of potential and I hate to see you throwing your life away and hanging out with the wrong kids”. That day I went home and spent a lot of the day contemplating what I should do. I remembered when I was working construction how much I hated it and how I wanted to be a boss and not an employee. I decided I was going to push myself and go to college even though many of my friends and family told me I wasn’t going to make it. I never believed what my friends and family told me; I had a goal and I was not going to give up on it no matter what or who I had to lose because at the end of the road it is just going to be me myself and I laying in my coffin. I decided I was going to live for me and fight for me. I knew it was going to be hard but persistence and consistency is what gets you what you really truly wish for.

My father has always been a very hard working man. He came from Mexico to the United States in search of the American dream in January of 1979. He was deported his first time in San Diego, California after paying $2,000 for a ‘’COYOTE” to pass him over the border. He wanted the American dream so bad that he worked for 5 months and paid another $2,000 dollars to get over the border. This time he was a bit more fortunate; he was in the U.S. for about 3 months working at a construction site getting paid $3.50 an hour and he also worked loading trailers with merchandise for $3.00 an hour. He was deported when immigration went to his job site and took all the immigrants.

He described his situation as the most frustrating thing he had ever undergone. He said that there were many times when he just wanted to give up and settle for the life in México; yet he never gave up. He stayed persistent, fighting for what he wanted.” Marco never give up on something that you desire with a passion, have patience, with persistence everything comes together one day”, Is what he told me every time I wanted to give up on anything. He also told me,” Marco when you want things done you have to risk and do it yourself”.

The last time my father came to the U.S. he didn’t pay for a “coyote”. He crossed the border on his own successfully; he risked getting caught; he also risked dying because he came on his own and on foot. He stayed persistent with his dream and now he has everything he always desired, his dreams came true because he took risks and stayed persistent with his dreams.

Everyone has had a crush on somebody that they never told. In my case I was in third grade and I had a crush on a girl named Genevieve Torres. I never told her because of the fear of getting turned down. We were always mean to each other but it was only because we liked each other. At the time I was not aware of her liking me. She always smelled like a perfume from Victoria’s secret, I knew it was that perfume because my mother had it, I’m assuming she took it from her mother and put it on. I remember I would wake up every morning telling myself that I would let her know that I like her. I never did it because I let fear take me over. Just last year I was back in California visiting my family and I saw her at the mall. I said hi to her and she said hi back, I approached her and asked her if she wanted to get something to drink because I hadn’t seen her since the fourth grade, she quickly replied “yes”. I told her that I had a crush on her in third grade, she smiled back and said that she had the biggest crush on me too. I looked at her and said to myself, “if only I would’ve taken the risk”. Life is full of these type of opportunities, whether it being in relationships or at a job etc. After that incident I learned to take risks and step out of my comfort zone. The worst that can happen is a rejection.

The last couple of years that I have been applying these values to my daily life, things have drastically changed for me. I am now in college, which is something that I would’ve never guessed or dreamed of being in when I was a freshman. The reason I have many of my friends is because I took the risk to talk to them and to step out of my comfort zone to meet new people. Persistence has played a big role in my life; I would definitely be where I am if I wouldn’t have stayed persistent with my dreams. I learned to never say what if, I learned to explore new things and to take risks because that’s the only way I will learn and see new things. I believe in persistence and risking if I want change. I don’t like regretting things. Life has many amazing things to offer, all I have to do Is reach my hand out without fear and fight for it until I get what it is I am fighting for.