There was this man named Michael, who was born during the late 1960’s. He was born to a poor family and often had to work to support his family. He lived in this neighborhood where there was a high crime rate. It was a quiet place; it almost looked as if it was a ghost town during the day. During the night, the streets got filled with gangs, thugs, hustlers, and drug dealers. He wanted to be a successful person and be the first one of his family to go to college. But the question was, would he make it to college and stay away from the gangs? Every day he came home from school, he had to be alert at all times to prevent anyone from stealing from him. This went on until his high school days. Those were the days were a lot of his friends were joining gangs, doing drugs, and ditching school. Many of his friends persuaded him to do bad things and insulted Michael for not doing what they did. Michael could care less of what his friends were doing; he knew they were going to end up with a bad life. So Michael continued his own way and finally graduated from high school with good grades. Many of his friends ended up dropping out of school and some ended up in a cell. Michael’s life was rough but at the end it was worth it. He got accepted to a good college and after getting his master’s degree; he ended up with a great job and ended up with a nice family. He had accomplished his goal and felt proud of it. Many said he wasn’t going to make it. Now he is going to tell his experience to his kids and explain them about the good and bad things in life. -Julian Cruz