My whole family is from the Dominican Republic. We came to Providence in the Winter 1998. The few times that I've gone back to see my old house and my family, it's been crazy to look at that in comparison to how I live now. It's amazing to think that not too long ago, that's how my life was. Only my dad's side of the family came to this country, so a lot of my relatives are still in DR. I went back this past summer, but that was the first time I'd seen my whole family since we left. We were all crying and hugging—it was incredible to think of how much time has passed since then. We came to Providence because my aunt was already here and my dad thought that work would be better in Providence than in New York, and housing is cheaper.
I went to Hope my freshman year, but then I transferred to Central. It was because of my grades, mostly. They weren't going so well at Hope, but now things are a lot better. As a freshman I just didn't care about my grades, I slacked off. My mom was pretty upset and dragged me to the school department. They said that Central was doing really well so she sent me here.
I love the diversity at Central, how many different kinds of people you can meet here. You can be friends with so many different kinds of people. When I started here I was really shy. I was always the quiet one in the corner during middle school and when I stared high school. When I came to the US in fifth grade, the only English I knew was hello, goodbye, and the numbers up to ten. It took a while for me to be more comfortable in this country. But now I'm so much more open—I can walk up to a total stranger on the street and start talking to them. I can tell that I've matured a lot in that way, and it's getting me ready for the future. Because when you go in for a job interview or something, you need to be able to strike up a conversation with a complete stranger. You need to be confident in yourself enough to do that.
I'm going to Johnson and Wales next year for college. I'm so excited! The funny thing is that I had the acceptance letter for a long time before I opened it, but I didn't realize that's what it was. They always send me tons of mail, most of which isn't that important. So I lost track of that one envelope, but when I finally opened it I found out that I was accepted. I was so happy. I'll be studying business management, which is something I've wanted to do since the Intro to Business class I took at school last year. The teacher was really cool, and we studied a lot of material about banks, and money, and how businesses work. It got me really interested.
My mother is my motivation. Back in DR, she had her own business and my dad was a partner at a firm. But when we came to this country they had to give everything up and we had to start all over again. She just started a new job today, but she's worked in factories off an on since we moved here. I don't want my mom to have to go through that. I've always wanted to do the best for myself so that my mom could have whatever she wants, so that I can help her as much as I can.
I don't have any regrets about my time here because all the experience, both the good and the bad, contribute to who you are and make you the person that you are. In the end, I'm all right with it. But my advice to others is to get your stuff done early. Don't wait till the last minute, because then it's going to be too late. You can't really get what you want out of an experience if you wait till the last minute. You're always rushing to get done and you never get to savor the moment.
My advice to teachers is just to be passionate about your work. Teachers should be strict with their students, even if they complain, because it'll help them in the long term. I've never had any really strict teachers, but if I did have one I think it would have motivated me to be more active about my work.
Rudy Cabrera>>
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