An Opportunity of a Lifetime
(Part 2)
By: Luis Rasgado
My flight was scheduled for Thursday, July 22nd. I was nervous, and scared I was literally freaking out!! I didn’t want to do it anymore, but it was necessary.
I had many reasons to head to Mexico; one was that an unbelievable record of 13 years have passed since I had seen my grandparent's, uncles, aunts and cousins. It was time for them to see me and for me to see them, but the main reason was to obtain a "Student Visa." Over the past years, my life have been a tormenting episode of "Degrassi" and its drama. Day by day I go to school and back home, but what would my life be like after High School?
Many thoughts went through my mind, I knew that something had to be done. I passed my whole entire senior year searching for scholarships and any kind of help to make my dreams of going to college come true. Many of those days, were frustrating and very depressing. I was sick of reading "Must be a U.S citizen to apply for this scholarship." All I wanted to do was go to college and make something important out of my life, but thanks to my status in this country, all dreams and goals were going down the drain.
I was ready to give up, but then I saw many of my classmates already deciding what their future would hold. Many were saying that they would work at a dairy farm or doing outside work. "That's not the life I want for me!" That motivated me even more. I had decided that I wanted to go to Texas A&M University-Commerce, but it was too expensive! For 226 days, I focused only on one thing and it was to hit the jackpot. I needed money and urgent, to realize my dreams of a college education.
"Once you go to college and graduate, then what's next?" "You have no Social Security number and no documentation to show that you are legal," that totally devastated me. It was true, I was here "illegally" and after graduation, I wouldn't have the opportunity to work the job I wanted because of my status.
Something had to be done. I did a lot of research and with the help of generous people I found out that there was a way for me to complete my dreams!
I could be in the U.S legally, but before that could happen I had to go through the decision of going to Mexico and possibly not being able to return. It was a risk, but it was necessary.
After my decision was made, that was when doubts begin to hit!!..............................
On my way to the airport my imagination went wild. What would I do if I couldn’t come back? What would my life be like? What is Mexico even like? All those thoughts didn’t matter anymore. The decision was made and it was final. It was too late to turn back, everyone was expecting me to take the risk and accept the challenges before me. I was risking everything, but the rewards would be great, if I could get my student visa.
The flight was supposed to depart from DFW at 5, but it was on delay. “Great, another wait,” I thought. “It’s not too late to change your mind.” It was like I had the good me and the bad me on my left and right shoulders. One wanted me to stay and the other one was telling me to be quiet and keep going as planned.
My parent’s couldn’t stand the fact that I was leaving. My mom wanted me to stay and my dad was just giving me the thumbs up and telling me that I knew what I was doing. The truth was that I didn’t!
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On the flight to Mexico City I met a French girl; she was really pretty, but really annoying. All the way she bragged about how rich she was, her clothes, and about a Chihuaha dog she had, thinking it would impress me. Here I was worried about my future and worried if I'd ever see my family in the U.S. and all she could talk about was her dog! “I was seriously about to punch her!”
Once I landed in Mexico, I was amazed to see people from all around the world. There I first saw this guy from India, he started to talk to me in his language and I didn’t know whether to talk to him in English or Spanish. He didn’t even let me open my mouth; he just rolled his eyes and walked away.
I was already frustrated and I got even more frustrated when I couldn’t find the way to pick up my luggage. I asked the security people at the airport to point me in the right way and that’s exactly what they did. All they did was point to a random direction and walk away. I was seriously about to throw a fist! I was more fortunate than some, because I had somewhat of a grasp of the Spanish language, spoken in Mexico. But, I'd never flown on an airplane or been in a busy international airport.
Finally, I found out that I had to go through immigration, first, before I could even walk out of the airport. There I waited at least thirty minutes for it to be my turn. It ended with the worst and best finale, I met up with the French girl, and she was about to start "blabbering" again, but I stopped her and told her to bug off. She made an obscene gesture with her finger, said something in French, and walked off. That right there truly made my day!
As I walked out of the airport to meet with my uncle, I was shocked to find myself shivering unstoppably. It was freezing cold, but that didn’t matter. Once I opened the doors of the airport I saw Mexico City gleaming with lights. It was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen.
As I toured around, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Mexico wasn’t as bad of a place as they show on the news. I was starting to feel comfortable, but all that was about to change……..................
To Be Continued...........
