Marco Carrillo is a senior at McCutcheon High School.
After graduation, Marco plans on going to Ivy Tech for one year and then transferring to either Purdue or IUPUI. Marco states: "I’m truly excited for what the future holds and am ready to set foot into the next steps of my college career. "
This is his essay entitled, "Don't Be Afraid to Dream."
My family has always taught me that if you work hard for anything and your work ethic matches how bad you want it, then it should always come your way. I believe the feeling you get when you complete that certain milestone in your life is a feeling that nobody can take from you. It’s an achievement only you will understand just how much work went into it.
My dad and I talk about his past every now and then. The story that stands out to me most is the story in which he tells me how he got here. When my dad first arrived to the U.S., he came with high expectations. He planned on having his own business and learning English. My dad knew it would not be easy, so he worked hard to achieve these two goals. He would always tell me how difficult it was for him to learn English. He explained it to me like this: Imagine a baby that won't stop crying and nobody knows what the baby wants because he doesn’t know how to communicate with anyone. That was my dad’s experience learning English-- well, except for the crying part. He didn’t know how to ask questions, and so whenever he was confused about how to pronounce a certain word, he would write it down and find his own way of learning that word.
My dad eventually figured out how to write and speak English after ten brutal years. That’s when he decided to focus on his second goal. He got a job at a local construction business run by an old friend of his. Things started out well! My dad became the head manager on certain projects. Even though things were going great, my dad always had the thought of doing things on his own. He was with the company for five years, and decided that he had enough experience and thought he would try and start his own company.
Since my dad had a higher position in the company now, he asked for a raise and his request got denied. This decision helped my dad decide to start working on his own business. What he began noticing was his business slowly making more revenue than the company that he was working for. He went to his boss and told him about his idea of starting his own business, and his boss disrespectfully told my dad “in your dreams.” My dad took those words and used them as motivation. He expanded his business and eventually left the company. After he would finish telling the story, he would always say, “Don't be afraid to dream mijo.”
My father’s story is what helps me truly believe in hard work. I think if anyone works hard for something, it should come their way. This, I believe.