Story of my life pt 2

New Years probably 2003 i was on the rooftop crying. I cried because i was tired, scared, sick of feeling unsafe, i wanted to move to the US so badly. I had been here for vacation twice; Once when i was 5 and then when i was 10, so i knew it was safe and beautiful.

Summer 2004 after i finished 6 grade we made the big move and i couldn’t have been happier.

I started school that fall and was put in the ESOL program which is for non english speaking kids, there were hispanics from several places, russians, haitians, etc.

Those 2 years of middle school were best 2 years ever! all we did was play around all day and “learn” 

I will never forget my first day of school, here is that story..

I get on the school bus (because the school is like 30 mins away) all i have is this yellow sticky note with “Salcedo” written on it. When i get to school i’m lost like a puppy, not only that but i spoke no english and the school i went to is a high school/ middle school so the campus is huge!

I remember showing several people the sticky note and saying where? this?

Finally someone pointed me towards the gym, where i met a girl from mexico who was in the same situation as i was and we became bffs.

All the ESOL kids got bullied! americans made fun of our accents and looked at us like we were some kind of shit. I was the coolest kid at the gym locker room the first day because i had a belly ring at 12, back in the day that was kind of a big deal but it didn’t make a difference. 

Xoxo Julieth