Personal+Narrative+Essay

Raythan Pillai English 8-2 November 17, 2008 Frankie’s Life Story The constant fear I had to endure started when I was four years old and continued until I hit the age of fourteen. When I was four, my family and I illegally immigrated to the United States. My father told me, “If anyone asks where you were born, tell them Colton, California. If la migra (U.S border patrol) catches you, they’ll send you back to Mexico”. So, I have always had this fear that my family and I would be caught be la migra. After moving all around California, we finally settled in Bonetti Ranch after my brother, Roberto, was able to get a part-time job as a janitor at a local elementary school. At this point, my family and I were enjoying our new life in the United States, especially me because I can now go to school. Ten years later, I am sitting in my eighth grade class about to recite the preamble of the Declaration of Independence when a man from the U.S border patrol comes to my class and takes me away, with my brother, to the rest of the family. We are then extradited back to Mexico. Fortunately, all of us are able to get our Visas and legally come back to California as U.S citizens. Shortly after, Roberto and I are separated from the rest of the family when they need to travel to Guadalajara. Roberto was able to support himself and I with his job, and we did not do much other than go to school. But after a while, we got lonely and decided that we should go to the Vet’s dances to have fun and meet new people. At one of the dances I met a girl named Peggy who also goes to my school. We were good friends until I met her parents and she stopped talking or meeting with me. Finally, Roberto and I were reunited with the rest of our family. As everything turned back to how it usually is, papa decided to become his own boss and be a sharecropper. Unfortunately, the crops died after they were given a chemical that was too strong, thus, papa’s moods got worse and unpredictable by the day. In almost no time I am upon my eighth grade graduation ceremony and thinking about how high school will be and that I am glad to finally get our of middle school. Before I left for the ceremony, papa gave me his St. Christopher medal, which is something that I hold very dear to my heart. In ninth grade, I have been focusing on good grades that reflected in all subjects except for English, even though I worked the hardest in this subject. I also struggled in gym because someone had taken my shoes. I ended up using shoes that Trampita and Torito found in the dump. These shoes gave me athlete’s foot, which continued even after I started wearing new tennis shoes. We were struggling to make ends meet, so Roberto and I (as his helper) got jobs from Mike Nevel. Lucky for me, Mr. Nevel liked that I was a hard-worker, so he gave me a promotion and paid me a dollar an hour. I was extremely happy and I new that papa would be proud of me as well. In the summer of my sophomore year, Frankie taught me how to drive in the old DeSoto. I was not a very good driver because I always got nervous behind the wheel because we were involved in a car crash in Selma when a drunk driver hit our Carcachita from behind. During my exam for my driver’s license, I scored an one hundred percent on the written portion, but barely passed on the actual driving part. So, in the end, I was able to get my driver’s license. In my junior year, I became a member and president of the Spanish club, or “Los Santitos”. We had to devise a plan for doing an activity for Christmas, and I conjured up the idea for having a Christmas food drive with the Salvation Army helping deliver the food to families. The best part of the food drive was that our family received a bag of groceries from the Salvation Army on Christmas. Another major part of my junior year consisted of the “Junior Scandals”. This was a show where any junior would perform something in front of the rest of the grade. I chose to embrace my Mexican heritage by singing my favorite Mexican song “Cielito Lindo”. At the end the crowd cheered and applauded. The success of my performance helped me in my running for class president with my friend Paul, who ran for treasurer. In the end, I won the election and rushed home to inform my family. I found out that my father had severely cut his hand when cutting wood on a saw and rushed to the hospital. There, I found out that my father had lost one of his fingers. I was sad about what happened to my father, so I told him that I ran for office and won, hoping it would cheer him up. As papa and the rest of my family congratulated me, I felt joyful and sorrowful at the same time, “I felt like a bird caught in a storm”. Finally, I am graduating from high school. I was so happy to see my mama and papa show up at the graduation ceremony because they were not able to make Roberto’s graduation ceremony. I have also gotten a letter from the University of Santa Clara telling me that they have accepted me. I have finally reached my overall goal, and my dream. “I was going to college. After so many years, I was still moving.”