Memories

Memories help us shape our future in which the moments that we treasure lasts forever in a beautiful remembrance. At times these memories can be painful depending on the situtaion but others fill our life with joy and happiness. Some of those memories include my Quincenera, high school graduation, and college freshman.

October 15, 2004, was expected to be the most beautiful memory that I had to remember. This day happened to be my Quincenera. I remember that I would always start counting the days for that special day to arrive. When this day finally arrived, I was so glad since I knew that for once in my life my father would be there to celebrate my birthday. I had told him that I wanted him to bemy companion of the evening in order to dance the traditional waltz with him. Everything started to fall apart when I noticed that he was not in the party. I remember crying beacause I had always dreamed of that day being special since he had assured that he would be there. When my family saw me crying they insisted to on with the party and try to forget that painful scene. I ended up dancing the ballroom waltz without my dad; instead I danced with his brothers. This memory became important due to the fact that his brothers worked together in order to make me happy in which I am glad for the effort that they made on this day.

Ever since I was a senior in high shool, I knew that I need to graduate in order to succeed in life and to make my mother proud after all the pain she went through because of her brother's death. On the other hand, I was feeling quite depressed because my dad's family kept on making statements to others that I would end up in the streets somewhere or that I would not graduate because my cousins did not. I could not understand why they would judge me by trying to bring other misfortunes into my life. I knew that I had to work very hard in order to achieve what I really wanted. Graduating from high school has been the proudest moment of my life, making me realize that I can accomplish anything. At the same time I was able to prove my family wrong since I had actually received my diploma.

Having my diploma, I decided to move ahead in furthering my education in order to get a degree. I knew that becoming a freshman could be quite hard since I would have to commute and because I would not have sufficient funds in order to pay for my education. During my freshman year, I was glad that everything had turned out good because I received help from the college since I was a first generation student. I think that with no help, I would have not made it through my first year of college. Now I know that when I need to give advice to an incoming freshman I would tell them to always be true to themselves and to seek for help whenever they need it or when it is offered. Attending college to me is a commitment that I am making in order to reach the success that I seek for my future and for that same reason I am still attending school up to this day.

Memories are the treasures that I keep in order to remember and to share them with others. I have never tried to block my memories of the past even though some have been quite painful. Everything that I have gone through has helped me become the person that I am now.