Believing That You Can Believing That You Can
at him there was this moment of clarity where there was no
one in the room but him & me. When I counted his toes
and called his name, he opened his eyes and looked up at
me almost like he recognized my voice. At that moment I
realized he depended on me, that his life was in my hands,
so I promised him that I would do right, work harder to
make the right decisions, and be a better man than his
biological father. “Any man can be a dad but it takes a real
man to be a father.” That was beautiful for me.
My name is Angel L. Rios. I am a GED student at Lindsey Hopkins and
Mr. Will inspired me to write and now it’s a passion.
Life is Better When You Can Read
I never learned to read because my teachers kept
passing me from one grade to another. I am not putting all
the blame on my teachers because when I was in class and it
was my time to read out loud, I would find an excuse. I had
to go to the rest room. Even in Sunday school and at church
I used the same excuse. I had to go to the restroom when it
was my time to read out loud. My first accomplishment was
going to Job Corps in 1967. I was fresh out of high school
and had never been away from home. I was afraid - scared.
I had never slept under the same roof with people that
weren’t kin to me. After being there for three months,
things became easier. I was taking a course to become an
electrician. I learned how to wire houses.
At the age of thirteen I was helping my second oldest
brother wiring houses, so when I went to Job Corps I knew
something about wiring. I became so interested in electrical
work that I stayed in Job Corps two extra months. Thirteen
months in all. After finishing Job Corps, I joined the Navy.
I signed up for an electrical course. I finished boot camp in
Orlando and was stationed at an electrical school in
California. The course was three months long. I completed
the course with a grade average of D. I was proud of myself
because this was the only time in my life that I stuck to a
book and kept up with the class. Remember, now, I could
hardly read. I was left out of events that I wanted to attend,