Back in 2016 I was 12 years old living with my parents in Panama. I didnā€™t really know what I was doing with my life besides beating everybody’s ass in karate and playing video games until midnight. Donā€™t worry about going to the school I was attending,  but who cares we all hate school anyway. Being a Blue belt really boosted my ego a little too high and that wasnā€™t like the high level, but hey who cares I was little, I didnā€™t really know ranks besides the colors. My parents took me to a huge tournament and guess what? I got my ass whoopā€¦. I did land some good kicks and punches, but it wasnā€™t enough for the referee to give me the win. Still hate him till this dateā€¦(Itā€™s 2023) well after that catastrophic loss I decided to keep doing karate, but my parents had other plans in mind for me. 

Fast forwarding to November of 2016 Panama wasnā€™t in a really nice place like you would think. Yes we have the Panama Canal which generates a ton of money for the country, we also have lots of tourism and Folklore that also attracts tourism, but thereā€™s always that one gritty person that wants everything to themselves it doesn’tā€™ matter if their actions affect thousands of people, theyā€™ll never be satisfy with what they have. That one person is Miss Government. I call it miss only because everyone in Panama calls them Bitches so just to be nice let’s call it miss for nowā€¦ Panama was sinking in terms of economy, presidency, poverty, and corruption. Let’s start with Economy and Poverty. Everything in Panama was starting to go up in prices and there were no jobs available, but those who had jobs and been there for a long period of time were getting fired for no reason. So then after people were being fired, they couldn’t afford food, bills, clothes, other essentials and, thatā€™s where poverty comes in. Now is the presidency and the government’s turn. I kinda remember this like it was yesterdayā€¦ Panama had a president called Ricardo Alberto Martinelli. He was in office from 2009 to 2014 and he was treated like a Prince because of his success in the business industry. Many people said that he was the one that was going to help the country overcome those problems that Manuel Noriega left, at that point in time many people havenā€™t recovered from the misery that he made them go through, so Martinelli was ā€œour saviorā€.

The 5 years that this man was in the office he pretty much didnā€™t do anything. Actually no, he got rid of the Dollar coin and made his own called ā€œMartinelliā€ with no value in other countriesā€¦ yea he was very intelligent. Anyway 4 years of nothing and then on his 5th and last praised the lord, he decided to build certain skyscrapers that will benefit him after presidency and a Train system in the heart of the cityā€¦ Big deal. Even though I said he wasnā€™t doing anything for Panama, he was actually stealing the money that would come in from the Canal and people taxes. At least he was splitting it with his bitchesā€¦ I meanā€¦ Governmentā€¦ People found out about these things in 2016 yeah, almost 2 years after so what people decide to do? Protest, close roads, loot stores, kidnap police officers that were like his right hand and more. The only reason why they didnā€™t go for the government people was because they were out of the country, hmm I wonder why? These wild activities went on for maybe 3 months till Martinelli was found in Miami, Florida he was incarcerated and so did his little fellas. 

While those things were going on in Panama my parents were worried about my safety and education as well because Schools were shut down for those 3 monthsā€¦ Honestly it felt like heaven to me but for them it was like hell hahaha. They asked me on our way home from Karate if I would like to move to the US with my aunts and I looked at them like ā€œWhat kinda question is that OF COURSEā€ Literally the next month I was Opening a bunch of gifts and a ps4 looking at the so called ā€œWhite Christmasā€ so yeah I definitely moved out no hesitation. They both came with me to have a great time but then they went back to Panama only because they both had jobs where they were managers and still are which is impressive, but yeah they left and I stayed. I started junior high school and I did not have too much fun like I did in Panama. I kinda got into a couple of fights, but there was this one Dominican guy that would really get on my nose just because he was taller than me so what I did? Whoop his 5ā€™11 ass and then he wanted to be friends after that like okay buddy relax I wonā€™t be your bodyguard. The other fights were mostly about who was better at baseball. I happened to join the baseball team and I became pretty good at it until a group of Mexican guys challenged me to throw them out stealing second baseā€¦ I did and they decided to hate on me till we graduated. Now we’re like ā€œFriendsā€ . I didn’t learn not one bit of ingles while being in Junior High school. I was just there for the fun of it. When I went to high school my English started to pick up pretty quickly, I continued playing baseball and I also grew a massive love for the food industry so I would just read books, watch tv shows and read recipes onlineā€¦ I wouldn’t cook anything. I kinda didnā€™t have the balls to get on the stove till now that I work as a line cook at a fine dining restaurant. 

 While I was in high school I did meet some great people that Iā€™m still in contact with, I became the varsity teams Captain for my last 2 years, went to tons of parties, got drunk, But hey we won’t talk about because Iā€™m only 19 that’s in between you and I, I graduated with a scholarship and now Iā€™m here at the Library of campus talking about myself. I got to the US not really knowing what I was getting into and if I’m being honest with you, moving out from Panama was the best decision I ever made. I literally left everything behind and came here not really caring about what I was missing over there. Sometimes not questioning your own decision can lead you to a Positive path. All you have to do is Push through and not make any silly mistakes. Thereā€™s this say that goes ā€œThe more you fuck around the more Youā€™ll find outā€™ Well I did that and found out positive things by just being on top of my things. If you do the same you’ll probably end up at the library talking about yourself as well, But aye that’s up to youā€¦ Iā€™m already here.