I still keep in touch with some of them, I still thank them for what they did to me. They changed me. I changed! Like someone wise once told me "It’s better to be seen then heard" well sometimes its better to be heard than seen. I'm not rich. I have no money. My voice is the only powerful thing I own. When you say the right words to the right people, they will follow.
Finding out the facts and opening myself up to these different points of view has shifted my opinions on homeless. To those who still hold onto stereotypes about the homeless, you don’t know their story and you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. I now understand that this lifestyle is not always a choice and that this lifestyle does not take over their identity.
My friends were a shoulder to lean on, a very strong support system just when I needed them most. I tried to talk to my parents, but unfortunately I was unsuccessful in my attempt to go back home. If anyone reading this finds themselves in the same situation, I would advise them to make the best out of their situation, everything happens for a reason and no matter what happens, always try to be all you can be.
I guess what I’m trying to say is there have always been problems in my head and still are. I need help to keep steady and grounded and I’m not faking it to get attention. I’m just too scared to tell what’s going on because often times you all think it’s for attention and that makes me feel worse inside.
My life wasn’t easy, in fact to this day it’s not easy. One day, I decided I had enough and got myself out of the gang lifestyle and tried to begin flipping my life around. I don’t want to end up like my dad, in jail and not around my family.
Now that my sister and my brother in law gave me their opinion and their personal experiences of what happened in the army, I’ve changed my mind now. I’m just going to stay with my dad and help him in his agriculture company. I will major in Chemistry or Pomology.
I never paid too much attention to the recruiters. I’d usually end the conversation quickly or dodge their questions. I thought recruiters would pressure people into joining the military. I felt they were trying to fill their quotas and with limited time to fill them it makes it easier to target low-income families where the people are more likely to need the jobs, money and education the military can offer.
Sure the parents should be controlling what their kids should eat and make the right choice, but the constant exposure of advertisement and promotion often sways ones judgment. Fast food is part of the American culture and has a strong present in Merced. Should Merced as a whole try to control the influence of fast food advertising among Merced’s young people or just let this be?
A safe stabilized home for our families, like a plant plotted in the richest soil on Earth, is what we desire. A safe community for everyone, like the fertilizers that protects us against from harm, is what we desire. A Merced that is like a plant showered with the love of the rain, soil, oxygen, and sunlight, is what we desire.
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