Back when I was a young boy, my life was complete. In my eyes, I had everything I needed; my mother, food, and soccer. However, in my mother’s eyes we needed more than that in order to survive. I was born in Argentina and raised by a single mother who did anything she had to in order to achieve my happiness. She was young, caring, and beautiful and gave birth to me at the age of 18. One of the biggest and most dramatic changes of my life was when my mother decided to leave Argentina where my family and friends were, and move to America where we only knew two people. I was only six years old so I wasn’t sure what we were getting ourselves into. I didn’t know how big of a risk we were taking. Although America was a country of opportunities those opportunities didn’t always arrive to everyone.
It was a cold afternoon in my Aunts residence where I was parting ways with my family. I couldn’t truly understand why my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins were all crying. My aunt told my mom, “Why are you taking him away from us?” my mother replied, “I am willing to do whatever it takes for my son to have a successful future”. My mother would give me the world if she could. I knew that as long as I was with my mother I would be fine therefore I wasn’t as worried as my family was. My mother always told me, “If you work hard you can achieve anything in life”. This was a rather harsh statement for a six year old to understand at the time but with time I would manage to understand. Saying goodbye to my father was perhaps the hardest thing to do for me, at the time. Although we weren’t very close and he wasn’t there for me at most times it was still hard for me to leave my “father”. After arriving to the Airport, I didn’t know what to expect. All I knew was that I was moving into a new world and that all my family and friends were staying behind. My family on my mother’s side was very close but with so many financial issues this was the time to pursue success and achieve happiness.
When we arrived to the International Airport of Miami we had an old family friend Ernesto waiting for us. He and his family were the ones that gave us a hand when we first arrived. Everything was incredibly different and more fancy than what I was used too. The bills were a different color, the people were different, and most importantly the language was different. I didn’t know how I felt at the time. I didn’t know what to expect, or what I was supposed to do. My mother only told me that we were in America because it was to give me an opportunity to succeed as a person and to “achieve” happiness.
We moved in with Ernesto and his family until my mother found a job. I felt really uncomfortable because I always had my own room, now I had to share it with my mom. I didn’t feel like I was at home. I wanted to go back to Argentina. I didn’t like anything about America and that was only on my first day. I had just finished second grade in Argentina because school starts in March and it ends in December, but since in America it’s different I had to go back to second grade.
On my first day of school I cried and didn’t want my mother to leave my side. Not only did I miss my family and friends but I couldn’t understand a word anyone said. Everyone in the classroom saw me cry so I felt even more embarrassed to be there. I was finally convinced by the teacher to come inside and let my mother leave. After spending a couple of minutes in the classroom I started sobbing again. I just didn’t know why my mother would do this to me, why would she change my life and bring me to a place that I felt was like torture. Fortunately enough I went to a school in Miami were the society as a whole was very fluent in Spanish. My classmates were friendly and made the transition easier than expected.
After a couple of days my mother found a job. Not her dream job, but having a steady income was good enough. Ernesto then introduced me a special person that had a big impact in my life. His name was Juan Carlos and he was the coach to a youth league soccer team. I told him how skilled I was at the sport so he decided to give me a shot to be on his team. Since my mother couldn’t afford to have a car Juan Carlos had to pick me up and drop me off to the try-out. My first day of soccer was similar to my first day of school in America. Everyone spoke English; everyone was friends with each other. I truly felt like an outcast. However, we all shared the same passion for the same sport and that’s what ultimately got us along. I made the team but I told Juan Carlos that I wouldn’t be able to attend all of the practices and games because my mother didn’t have a car. Without any hesitation Juan Carlos said “I came from a family that also moved to America, I know what you guys are going trough and I am willing to help.” With a couple of tears in my eyes I hugged him and thanked him for the opportunity he was giving me. Juan Carlos was like an “Angel” sent from god.
After my mother started getting more hours at her job we could afford to move out and live on our own. We moved into a two bedroom apartment and for me it felt like I moved into a mansion. It was very cozy and it felt like a dream come true for me and my mother. However, living on our own applied to more expenses. These were probably the toughest years of my life. My mother was now working 72 hours a week and I barely saw her. I told my mother that I missed her and she replied “ I miss you and think of you all the time, and one day you will be able to understand why I am working so hard” I was only 7 years old and I walked to school and back, and I spent plenty of time home alone.
Throughout those tough years of my life I wondered if my mother had made the right choice because I felt so lonely and she was working almost twice the amount of time that a regular job took. However, after all the struggles we went through this big change was worth it. I understood the big sacrifices my mother did, and it was all worth it. I wouldn’t change anything my mother did for me. Moving to America was the biggest change in my life and it made me a stronger person. My mother is now married and has another child, and I became the first person in my family to attend a University in America by being a current student at the University of Central Florida.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Thursday, September 17, 2009
rough draft
Back when I was a young boy, my life was complete. In my eyes, I had everything I needed; my mother, food, and soccer. However, in my mother’s eyes we needed more than that in order to survive. I was born in Argentina and raised by a single mother who did anything she had to in order to achieve my happiness. One of the biggest and most dramatic changes of my life was when my mother decided to leave Argentina where my family and friends were, and move to America where we only knew two people. I was only six years old so I wasn’t sure what we were getting ourselves into. I didn’t know how big of a risk we were taking. Although America was a country of opportunities those opportunities didn’t always arrive to everyone.
It was a cold afternoon in my Aunts residence where I was parting ways with my family. I couldn’t truly understand why my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins were all crying. Perhaps because it would be years until the next time I saw them. I was just a little boy that trusted anything my mother did, therefore I knew that as long as I was with my mother I would be fine. Saying goodbye to my father was perhaps the hardest thing to do for me, at the time. After leaving the lobby of the Airport, I didn’t know what to expect. All I knew was that I was moving into a new world and that all my family and friends were staying behind. My family was very close but with so many financial issues it was the best time for my mother for us to come to America.
When we arrived to the International Airport of Miami we had an old family friend Ernesto waiting for us. He and his family were the ones that gave us a hand when we first arrived. Everything was incredibly different and more fancy than what I was used too. I didn’t know how I felt at the time. I didn’t know what to expect, or what I was supposed to do. My mother only told me that we were in America because it was to give me an opportunity to succeed as a person.
We moved in with Ernesto and his family until my mother found a job. I felt really uncomfortable because I always had my own room, now I had to share it with my mom. I didn’t feel like I was at home. I wanted to go back to Argentina. I didn’t like anything about America and that was only on my first day. I had just finished second grade in Argentina because school starts in March and it ends in December, but since in America it’s different I had to go back to second grade.
On my first day of school I cried and didn’t want my mother to leave my side. Not only did I miss my family and friends but I couldn’t understand a word anyone said. Everyone in the classroom saw me cry so I felt even more embarrassed to be there. I was finally convinced by the teacher to come inside and let my mother leave. After spending a couple of minutes in the classroom I started sobbing again. I just didn’t know why my mother would do this to me, why would she change my life and bring me to a place that I felt was like torture. Fortunately enough I went to a school in Miami were the society as a whole was very fluent in Spanish. My classmates were friendly and made the transition easier than expected.
After a couple of days my mother found a job. Not her dream job, but having a steady income was good enough. Ernesto then introduced me a special person that had a big impact in my life. His name was Juan Carlos and he was the coach to a youth league soccer team. I told him how skilled I was at the sport so he decided to give me a shot to be on his team. Since my mother couldn’t afford to have a car Juan Carlos had to pick me up and drop me off to the try-out. My first day of soccer was similar to my first day of school in America. Everyone spoke English, everyone was friends with each other. I truly felt like an outcast. However, we all shared the same passion for the same sport and that’s what ultimately got us along. I made the team but I told Juan Carlos that I wouldn’t be able to attend all of the practices and games because my mother didn’t have a car. Without any hesitation he offered to give me rides to every event. With a couple of tears in my eyes I hugged him and thanked him for the opportunity he was giving me.
After my mother started getting more hours at her job we could afford to move out and live on our own. We moved into a two bedroom apartment and for me it felt like I moved into a mansion. It was very cozy and it felt like a dream come true for me and my mother. However, living on our own applied to more expenses. These were probably the toughest years of my life. My mother was now working 72 hours a week and I barely saw her. I was only 7 years old and I walked to school and back, and I spent plenty of time home alone.
Throughout those tough years of my life I wondered if my mother had made the right choice because I felt so lonely and she was working almost twice the amount of time that a regular job took. However, after all the struggles we went through this big change was worth it. This was the biggest change in my life and it made me a stronger person. My mother is now married and has another child, and I became the first person in my family to attend a University in America by being a current student at the University of Central Florida.
It was a cold afternoon in my Aunts residence where I was parting ways with my family. I couldn’t truly understand why my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins were all crying. Perhaps because it would be years until the next time I saw them. I was just a little boy that trusted anything my mother did, therefore I knew that as long as I was with my mother I would be fine. Saying goodbye to my father was perhaps the hardest thing to do for me, at the time. After leaving the lobby of the Airport, I didn’t know what to expect. All I knew was that I was moving into a new world and that all my family and friends were staying behind. My family was very close but with so many financial issues it was the best time for my mother for us to come to America.
When we arrived to the International Airport of Miami we had an old family friend Ernesto waiting for us. He and his family were the ones that gave us a hand when we first arrived. Everything was incredibly different and more fancy than what I was used too. I didn’t know how I felt at the time. I didn’t know what to expect, or what I was supposed to do. My mother only told me that we were in America because it was to give me an opportunity to succeed as a person.
We moved in with Ernesto and his family until my mother found a job. I felt really uncomfortable because I always had my own room, now I had to share it with my mom. I didn’t feel like I was at home. I wanted to go back to Argentina. I didn’t like anything about America and that was only on my first day. I had just finished second grade in Argentina because school starts in March and it ends in December, but since in America it’s different I had to go back to second grade.
On my first day of school I cried and didn’t want my mother to leave my side. Not only did I miss my family and friends but I couldn’t understand a word anyone said. Everyone in the classroom saw me cry so I felt even more embarrassed to be there. I was finally convinced by the teacher to come inside and let my mother leave. After spending a couple of minutes in the classroom I started sobbing again. I just didn’t know why my mother would do this to me, why would she change my life and bring me to a place that I felt was like torture. Fortunately enough I went to a school in Miami were the society as a whole was very fluent in Spanish. My classmates were friendly and made the transition easier than expected.
After a couple of days my mother found a job. Not her dream job, but having a steady income was good enough. Ernesto then introduced me a special person that had a big impact in my life. His name was Juan Carlos and he was the coach to a youth league soccer team. I told him how skilled I was at the sport so he decided to give me a shot to be on his team. Since my mother couldn’t afford to have a car Juan Carlos had to pick me up and drop me off to the try-out. My first day of soccer was similar to my first day of school in America. Everyone spoke English, everyone was friends with each other. I truly felt like an outcast. However, we all shared the same passion for the same sport and that’s what ultimately got us along. I made the team but I told Juan Carlos that I wouldn’t be able to attend all of the practices and games because my mother didn’t have a car. Without any hesitation he offered to give me rides to every event. With a couple of tears in my eyes I hugged him and thanked him for the opportunity he was giving me.
After my mother started getting more hours at her job we could afford to move out and live on our own. We moved into a two bedroom apartment and for me it felt like I moved into a mansion. It was very cozy and it felt like a dream come true for me and my mother. However, living on our own applied to more expenses. These were probably the toughest years of my life. My mother was now working 72 hours a week and I barely saw her. I was only 7 years old and I walked to school and back, and I spent plenty of time home alone.
Throughout those tough years of my life I wondered if my mother had made the right choice because I felt so lonely and she was working almost twice the amount of time that a regular job took. However, after all the struggles we went through this big change was worth it. This was the biggest change in my life and it made me a stronger person. My mother is now married and has another child, and I became the first person in my family to attend a University in America by being a current student at the University of Central Florida.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Memo
To: Mrs. Moody
From: Pablo Quiroga
Date: September 15, 2009
With the feedback that I received I know have a better idea of how I’m going to develop my paper. I know that I have many things to improve on. One of the things I want to improve is how descriptive my writing is. There are many things that I just “tell” but I want to be able to “show” the reader what happened. I’m also going to talk more about what it was like to leave my family. I plan on finishing the memoir by talking about what it was like to move here and how we managed to survive. There are many events that made a strong impact on my future. For example, I plan on writing about my first days of school. I think that by writing about school can give the reader a good picture of how difficult it was for me to adjust to a new culture and language. I also plan on writing about my mom and all the struggles she had in order for us to survive. I think that by talking about my mother it gives the reader a good picture of we had to deal with at the time. While most kids had their parents at home every day when they got from school, I was alone and had to wait for my mother to come home from work. Another big event that I plan on talking about was playing soccer. I can give strong visuals by referring to the soccer tournaments and talking about how strange it was to be away from my mother in a place I didn’t really know anyone. I also plan on finishing my memoir by describing how I felt at each event and occasion and how it has made me the person that I am today.
From: Pablo Quiroga
Date: September 15, 2009
With the feedback that I received I know have a better idea of how I’m going to develop my paper. I know that I have many things to improve on. One of the things I want to improve is how descriptive my writing is. There are many things that I just “tell” but I want to be able to “show” the reader what happened. I’m also going to talk more about what it was like to leave my family. I plan on finishing the memoir by talking about what it was like to move here and how we managed to survive. There are many events that made a strong impact on my future. For example, I plan on writing about my first days of school. I think that by writing about school can give the reader a good picture of how difficult it was for me to adjust to a new culture and language. I also plan on writing about my mom and all the struggles she had in order for us to survive. I think that by talking about my mother it gives the reader a good picture of we had to deal with at the time. While most kids had their parents at home every day when they got from school, I was alone and had to wait for my mother to come home from work. Another big event that I plan on talking about was playing soccer. I can give strong visuals by referring to the soccer tournaments and talking about how strange it was to be away from my mother in a place I didn’t really know anyone. I also plan on finishing my memoir by describing how I felt at each event and occasion and how it has made me the person that I am today.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Draft
Back when I was a young boy, my life was complete. In my eyes, I had everything I needed; my mother, food, and soccer. However, in my mother’s eyes we needed more than that in order to survive. I was born in Argentina and raised by a single mother who did anything she had to in order to achieve my happiness. One of the biggest and most dramatic changes of my life was when my mother decided to leave Argentina where my family and friends were, and move to America where we only knew two people. I was only six years old so I wasn’t sure what we were getting ourselves into. I didn’t know how big of a risk we were taking. Although America was a country of opportunities those opportunities didn’t always arrive to everyone.
It was a cold afternoon in my Aunts residence where I was parting ways with my family. I couldn’t truly understand why my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins were all crying. Perhaps because it would be years until the next time I saw them. I was just a little boy that trusted anything my mother did, therefore I knew that as long as I was with my mother I would be fine. Saying goodbye to my father was perhaps the hardest thing to do for me, at the time. After leaving the lobby of the Airport, I didn’t know what to expect. All I knew was that I was moving into a new world and that all my family and friends were staying behind……
It was a cold afternoon in my Aunts residence where I was parting ways with my family. I couldn’t truly understand why my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins were all crying. Perhaps because it would be years until the next time I saw them. I was just a little boy that trusted anything my mother did, therefore I knew that as long as I was with my mother I would be fine. Saying goodbye to my father was perhaps the hardest thing to do for me, at the time. After leaving the lobby of the Airport, I didn’t know what to expect. All I knew was that I was moving into a new world and that all my family and friends were staying behind……
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Back when I was a young boy, my life was complete. In my eyes, I had everything I needed; my mother, food, and soccer. However, in my mother’s eyes we needed more than that in order to survive. I was born in Argentina and raised by a single mother who did anything she had to in order to achieve my happiness. One of the biggest and most dramatic changes of my life was when my mother decided to leave Argentina where my family and friends were, and move to America where we only knew two people. I was only six years old so I wasn’t sure what we were getting ourselves too. I didn’t know how big of a risk we were taking. Although America was a country of opportunities we could’ve failed.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Brainstorming
Event 1:
Moving to America: When I was six years old my parents decided to seek a better chance of lifestyle by moving to America. It was a drastic change that has forever altered my existence. I was born in Argentina, a country where soccer is what everyone breathes, where steak is what everyone eats and Spanish is what everyone speaks. Coming to America was entirely different. Not only did I have to learn a new language, but also learn to live in a whole different culture. The food was different, there were many sports that people liked and the community wasn't as social and friendly as what I was previously used to. Making friends was at times difficult because of the numerous backgrounds the kids my age had.
Event 2:
Learning English: My first year of going to school in America was in 1st grade. I cried the first couple of days because I didn't even know what the word "the" was, I didn't want to be there, I didn't want to learn a new language, I just wanted to go back home to Argentina where I already had my friends established and spoke the same language everyone did. I was put through a program called "ESOL" which helped students that spoke Spanish learn English. Eventually I learned the language and became more acquainted with the culture. I can now say that my English is pretty good and that I am very thankful to my parents for pushing me not to give up. Learning a new language has not only given me the opportunity to establish friendships but also establish myself in higher education by attending a University.
Event 3:
Soccer: Soccer has been a passion for not only myself but for my country in general. I started playing soccer when I was five years old and played all the way untill high school. When I moved to America the first thing my parents did before even enrolling in school was helping me find a soccer team to play for. I finally found a group of people that at least shared the same passion that I did, which was soccer. These were my first friends in America and they helped me understande the American culture and what to expect. Throughout the years my soccer teamates were like my brothers, since we had sleepovers because we traveled so much. Even throughout High School, soccer has kept me away from trouble, well atleast for the most part.
Moving to America: When I was six years old my parents decided to seek a better chance of lifestyle by moving to America. It was a drastic change that has forever altered my existence. I was born in Argentina, a country where soccer is what everyone breathes, where steak is what everyone eats and Spanish is what everyone speaks. Coming to America was entirely different. Not only did I have to learn a new language, but also learn to live in a whole different culture. The food was different, there were many sports that people liked and the community wasn't as social and friendly as what I was previously used to. Making friends was at times difficult because of the numerous backgrounds the kids my age had.
Event 2:
Learning English: My first year of going to school in America was in 1st grade. I cried the first couple of days because I didn't even know what the word "the" was, I didn't want to be there, I didn't want to learn a new language, I just wanted to go back home to Argentina where I already had my friends established and spoke the same language everyone did. I was put through a program called "ESOL" which helped students that spoke Spanish learn English. Eventually I learned the language and became more acquainted with the culture. I can now say that my English is pretty good and that I am very thankful to my parents for pushing me not to give up. Learning a new language has not only given me the opportunity to establish friendships but also establish myself in higher education by attending a University.
Event 3:
Soccer: Soccer has been a passion for not only myself but for my country in general. I started playing soccer when I was five years old and played all the way untill high school. When I moved to America the first thing my parents did before even enrolling in school was helping me find a soccer team to play for. I finally found a group of people that at least shared the same passion that I did, which was soccer. These were my first friends in America and they helped me understande the American culture and what to expect. Throughout the years my soccer teamates were like my brothers, since we had sleepovers because we traveled so much. Even throughout High School, soccer has kept me away from trouble, well atleast for the most part.
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