Adventures over the border

One of the most important decisions of my life was leaving my comfort zone to study in the US. My parents told me that they would not force to do something that I did not want to do and that it was my decision whether or not study at Austin High School. I knew it would not be easy, back then I did not speak English at all and I did not know anything about what awaited me in the other side of the border. I had lived all my life in Juarez, everything and everyone I knew lived there and little I could imagine what I would do in a total foreign place. It was a very tough choice I had to make. I knew that if I studied in El Paso many opportunities that I did not have would open and I would be able to study in an American college. I thought about how I would have to leave many things behind: the world I knew, my friends, my house and I would only visit my parents once in a while.

As you probably already guessed, I decided to take the risk, move with an uncle in El Paso, and enroll in Austin High School. Being honest, my first day- and part of my first year- was horrible, because I was scared of the simplest things but I decided that no one should notice. I fought against my own ignorance every day. I´ve always loved math, so naturally one of the worst experiences of my life is when I could not understand a word my algebra one teacher said, yet I could understand the numbers and the equations but when I was asked a question I had no idea what to do.  

All of this motivated me to learn English as fast as I could. I would put extra effort in all of my classes and I promised myself that I wouldn’t let the language barrier to stop me from anything.  After my first year I decided to get out of the ESL program and I joined normal English class. Little by little I could understand more of what people were saying, and I was even speaking English myself. The more time passed the more English I knew. This taught me that I am the only one that defines what I am able to do.

Looking back to it, I know that I did what was best for me. I have grown a lot in these past years and if it wasn’t for that decision I would have never learned so many things about what I am able to do. If I had to make that decision again I wouldn’t even think about staying in Juarez. Living in El Paso has helped me grow as an individual and taught me that I can accomplish different objectives if I really try and that sometimes change is good even if you don’t see the benefits right away.