Please Meet Ed

This month, I want you to meet Ed from Las Vegas. His story is very Unique and Inspiring. I asked him to put it in his own words:

" I came to America at a very young age. Being from a third world country, everything I experienced in America; I was overjoyed. There were so many different cultures coming into one place. It was all new to me. I studied hard and got good grades throughout high school. I found interest in film, sports, writing, poetry and music. Although what I failed to realize was how severe my undocumented status was. This led me to being interested in the process of our government. In a way I was disappointed in myself, here I was an undocumented student, being in the country for almost 19 years.

It wasn’t until my 12^th year in an America; a sophomore in high school, did I even begin to show interest in my status. As a kid, I always thought it would get taken care of. I guess it was normal, for kids to feel that way. Most of us have parents or someone who will always be there through our adolescence. That was always the case with me. Although, I was always a kid that was fine with being on my own and breaking away from the high school stereotype. This was due to the fact, that I was already anticipating my life after high school and how it would differ from the rest of my peers. As negative as my situation is, one of the most positive things to come out of it was my general perception of life. I no longer cared about the materialistic things in life or what people wore or what they did. Did I care about if my clothes were better than theirs? Not really, I just cared on trying to better myself. It has been a long struggle and a lot of disappointment after high school.

I am now more focused on getting a degree in the medical field. While working at a local restaurant as a cook, to make sure I pay for my tuition and monthly expenses. It is a hard task, especially when I have to wake up two and a half hours before work just so I can catch the bus.

Gabe asked me why I rock? My answer is; I don’t rock, unless if it’s with others. In the same sense of a band, passing the Dream Act is a group effort and we need every single person to participate and show passion for it.

John Lennon once said ““A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality.”

Throughout high school, I always had the passion for writing poetry. It was nothing along the lines of Shakespeare or even Edgar Allen Poe. As I am sure I will never be as a great as them, but I would say a little more contemporary, and more so like a song, as I was always obsessed with having my poems rhyme. I consider it creative writing that rhymes with unconventional sentence structure. Here is a poem written by me and how I have been feeling about being undocumented.

As I stare into space/

A name with no face/

A place, I want to call home/

Something, anything, I don’t want to be alone/

The world that I live in, is what I didn’t expect/

But I take it in stride, focus on what’s next/

Perplexed, on why I’ve been underachieving/

Because if you look at my past, you wouldn’t believe it/

That’s not an arrogant statement, it’s a picture I paint/

A stroke from my canvas, an artist disdained/

Every day I wake up, working minimum wage/,

I put a smile on my face, minimum dismay/

Being cautious, living life in the shallow/

A person in the back, just a mere shadow/

I could of gone many places, complacent/

But I’m left with a feeling so vacant/

It’s like playing catch-up, but suddenly my heart beats slow/

Everything’s flashing by, disappointment replaces ego/

I just want to succeed, I told god this/

Don’t place the burden on me, I am not it/

He probably thought I was strong enough to push through/

If I am, please just give me a clue/

I am at a loss for words, and everybody else wins/

I’m a patient man, but damn, it’s running real thin/

Despite the fact, I’ve been kicked and pushed/

Got off my back, with the will to move/

It’s ok to cuss and scream, “I’ve had it”/

I only look to progress, trying to kick the habit/

It’s crazy, this life we live/

How you can turn to negative to positive/

Through the anger and being depressed/

Made great friends in the same situation, that I would never second guess/

So if my light at the end of the tunnel is a little late/

I guess I can I blame it on one thing; Fate/ "