There was a time in my life when I thought I could no longer connect with anyone. That at my advanced age—18, to be exact—it was too late to build a close and strong relationship with someone, especially a family member. Two years ago, I left New York City and moved here to Hawthorne. I won’t deny that at first I didn’t like it at all. Trees everywhere, not a single building in sight, and the fact that you have to drive to get anywhere. But here I found something I unfortunately didn’t have in New York: someone to guide me and advise me on life’s matters; my sister. I never lived with my sister, much less spent time with her. She wasn’t a bad person or anything like that, but the age difference and the distance between us never gave us the opportunity to connect and spend time together.

When I moved here, she offered me the helping hand I had longed for. That extra support I was looking for everywhere but found so difficult to find. Growing up in an independent environment, I learned to do everything on my own. From cooking to taking public transportation and making sure everything I had pending for school was finished. When I moved here, I realized I no longer needed to carry all that weight. Here I had my siblings, especially Angelica and Jose Luis, who offered me a helping hand at every turn. They helped me not only to succeed in school and discover what I sincerely want to do with my life, but also to take those small steps into adulthood, like getting my driver’s license and buying my first car. I think that if life hadn’t offered me this opportunity, perhaps my dreams would just be aimless visions. But thanks to them, they have shaped me into the person I am today and the person I aspire to be someday.