My name is Carlos, I’m from El Salvador and I am majoring in Architecture. I came to New York when I was 6 years old, trying to understand and keeping up with school was hard for me because I didn’t know English or wasn’t even fluent in Spanish at the time. During that time I set a goal for myself to always try to keep up and keep learning from every mistake I made. I worked with my uncle in construction for some time and it was very fascinating to me how everything comes together to build a whole. I always enjoy designing things myself and that also inspired me to chase my dream to become an architect. Also I tend to try new things because being stuck in the same place becomes uninteresting to me so I do things like playing every sport, traveling, drawing, driving, skating, watching every genre of films, and doing activities that others like and trying to understand why they like it.
I have 2 mothers and they are everything to me, they have helped me in many hard times and in all of my achievements they have full credit. My biological mother had a very rough childhood because she was a teen mom with no support from her family. She build her way up by her own and with the help of my second mother as well. My brother has also made an impact in my life by helping us and even though we have rough times, I guess that is what having a sibling is like but much love to him. I wish to become as strong and experienced as them and my goal is to get my mothers a nice place to live in, so they could rest and see how everything they’ve worked for has paid off. I was diagnosed with WPW about 3 years ago when I was trying to join the baseball team, I noticed some abnormal heart beats. I had a procedure but they couldn’t get the extra electrical pathway because it was in a dangerous placement in my heart so I have been taking medication for it ever since. That made me feel even more different than others but it gave me another reason why to always move forward and live my life like it could end any minute. And a fun fact about me is that my first tattoo was of my EKG showing the abnormal heartbeat and both of mother’s initial. A piece of advice I wish I knew sooner was to be open to make mistakes and live your life the way you want it to be, don’t be scared of letting go of people because if they’re meant to be in your life then they’ll always come back in your life one way or another. But most importantly, enjoy and appreciate little things because it might never be the same again.
Hey Carlos, I’m amazed with your life experience. The fact you’re interested in construction really got me. My father works in construction. It’s really a hard working job. It’s cool too the crafting, designs, building up with tools, and ending up with the whole completely project. To be honest I haven’t seen womens much in this field. Mostly, it’s the male dominated industry. So it’s fascinating to me. Carlos, life really is a miracle. You never know what time, circumstances, and situations bring in life. Nothing stays the same sometimes people change or the time. It’s quite heart breaking. But you know what, you’re really brave and confidence. You’re a great example of motivation how you accept and move on because that’s the hard part. May God bless you and have a successful life and career.
Hey Carlos, Your tattoo is really cool, I like that it has meaning behind it, your story is very inspiring, you could be a motivational speaker. I hope you’re able to achieve your dreams, and by that house for your mom’s, I’m sure they would be very grateful. I wish you luck in achieving your dreams and being successful in all you wish to accomplish.
You have a rich set of experiences already in your short life.
I had to google WPW and I found:
Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) syndrome is a congenital cardiac preexcitation syndrome that arises from abnormal cardiac electrical conduction through an accessory pathway that can result in symptomatic and life-threatening arrhythmias.
Is this your medical condition? This must have been a huge event in your life. Is it a possible seed of a story that you might be able to mine for your Education Narrative? What was that first moment like — at the baseball tryouts when you felt a strangeness in your heart beat? How did it change your life? WHat have you learned? In what way do you feel that you are different from the others? Something to think about!