I was born in El Salvador the twenty sixth of august in a small town called Metapan. I went to school there until the third grade when my mom and my dad decided amongst themselves that it was in my best interest to come to the U.S. to live with my mom and her American husband. Next thing I know I’m on a plane on my way to the U.S.
When I got here I was immediately enrolled in Miller Elementary in Burbank. I skipped the fourth grade completely and went on to the fifth grade. I didn’t speak any English at this point, so the Burbank unified school district put me in beginner ESL classes. ESL stands for English as a second language. Those classes are meant to teach you English a fast as possible to make it easier to go on with regular school. Although I wasn’t the best student, I learned the fastest. I was able to hold conversations in six months. I became a good student eventually after I figured out a system of self-teaching simply by listening and watching. I realize now that learning is easy for me due to my useful ability to retain vast amounts of information and my photographic memory.
I was doing great in all my classes until I was forced to move to Tujunga by my recently divorced mom. Tujunga is a city of white trash drug addicts. There I started the seventh grade as a new student. I quickly made a bunch of new enemies. Although I was in the closet, I was the victim of many gay bashing incidents, including but not limited to death threats and suggestions. I ignored all the animosity the childish middle schoolers had towards me and scraped by until high school. Once I hit high school I found it incredibly easy, I almost never studied for tests, but always managed 90% or higher. My GPA was an outstanding 3.75 before I left.
I came to Hollywood because I couldn’t handle my mom’s stupidity and shitty parenting. Child services said I “left home and was encouraged to” in a meeting I had with them. My mom was also present at that meeting. The meeting was to decide where I would go, since I didn’t want to go back home. The only option they provided was for me to eventually and gradually, with the help of therapy, go back home and live with my mom. They decided to close my case. They offered absolutely no help to me whatsoever. DCFS wouldn’t place me simply because they felt that what I had been through wasn’t enough to justify taking me away from my mom. I refused to go back with the person who had put me through so much and had nothing else to offer me.
So I ended up having to go back home to the shelter that I was residing in at the time. I ended up at that shelter because I had been bouncing from friend’s houses. At one point I ran out of options so my friend’s aunt brought me to that shelter. Going to that particular shelter helped me in more ways than I could describe – they helped me get my life back together. They got me into Hollywood high, and they helped me get into the group home that I wanted. There are some small but manageable complications due to the fact that I am not in DCFS.
My educational goal is to go to college; my all time dream is to go to Yale University. I am considering NYU and Columbia University and some top notch SC’s. I have a dream to graduate from an Ivy League school since where you come from truly matters, so naturally I want have the confidence at a job interview that comes from graduating from an Ivy League college.
March 27th, 2009 at 8:13 am
You’ve touched so many with your story, I’m proud of you and it was an honor to meet you!
April 6th, 2009 at 9:05 pm
Hector, you have one amazing story and your story touched me when reading it outside of the Governor’s office.
February 4th, 2010 at 12:13 am
Amazing story! I wish you the best luck on your future endeavors!!