On October 20, 1997 in Jamaica Hospital a boy named Ely Ballinas was born. Before he was 2 years old Ely and his parents moved to Mexico. He Started school in Mexico and his first language was Spanish. When he was 7 his mom decided to move back to New York; the only problem was that she didn’t have any papers. Ely and his older sister Eride flew on a plane to New York, yet his mother had to cross the border. Ely and his older sister had to stay with their aunt until their mother joined once again. Once Ely’s mom got reunited with her children, Ely noticed that his dad did not come with her. One day Ely’s aunt and mom got into an argument and Ely with his mom and sister had to move out. They didn’t have a home or anywhere else to go. After a few days of sleeping on the streets they went to a shelter. They moved from home to home yet it never really felt like home. Then one day after a long time they got a home that was finally called home.
Ely went to his public school called PS.42 that he had a really hard time in. He got bullied for not speaking English and he didn’t understand his teacher. For that he got left back. He was an outsider. He was very shy to interact with anyone or talk to anyone. At home his mom was almost never home because she had two jobs so she could pay the bills. Ely’s older sister then had to be the grownup of the house. It was really hard for her because she was badly influenced by the neighborhood. A few years passed and at the age of 16 she moves out of the house with her boyfriend due to the mistreatment by her mother. Ely got bad grades in school and sometimes barely passed his classes. He was in a bad depression for a long time. Once he hit high school he dedicated himself to be the cool kid in class. Yet time passed and he had not changed like he wanted to.
Then he met two of his greatest friends That would change the way he is. They influenced him to do better at his school so his grades improved and he also got very active by working out. They created a club dedicated to working out called The Wight Room Warriors. They also Joined Cross country that helped them develop a healthy life. He finally felt like he wasn’t an outsider. Senior Year of high school was one of his best years. Then College was around the corner and now he feels like he is starting over. No friends to hang around with and no one to talk to. He has a lot of pressure by his mother to do a lot of great things, yet he doesn’t know if he can fulfill them. Ely Believes in himself so with time we will see.
