An Encounter That Changed My Life
in Florida, on October 3rd. The irony of this was that it was
my birthday too. The illusions of joy were replaced by a
heart in many pieces and darkness deep in my soul. I felt
that little by little I was going to die despite my escape.
However, because of the grace of God, after seven years, I
have been working at making my dream come true. I have
started writing my new dreams. I am stronger and I have a
family of my own and wonderful people that God has given
me. I’m living in this country where the renewing of my
life and dreams is really true.
Sharon Nieves is a student at Dunbar Community School.
My Dream
I was born on July 6, 1983 in San Juan Puerto Rico. My
father’s name was Jesus Manuel Nieves, and my mother’s
name is Alma R. Perez. My father died when I was seven
years old, and from that moment on my whole world had
changed. I have three brothers, two older, and one younger,
but I don’t have sisters. I am fine with that. When I was 16,
I had my first son. He was born on April 26, 1999.After
him, three more boys were born. Then in 2007, I had my
first daughter, those 5 kids I lost for using drugs. When my
baby boy was born in 2009, my life changed again. I
decided not to keep using drugs, because I didn’t want to
lose him.
One year later, in 2010, my baby girl was born. After
that, I made another decision and came to USA. I started
working as a housekeeper and as a cashier, but now I don’t
work. I started school because I want my diploma to be a
medical assistance to help others. Now I am proud of
myself, I am clean from my drug addiction, and I have my
babies with me. I also have a stable home and a good
relationship with my family. Among the five kids I lost, I
communicate with three of them, but I am not going to stop
until I have all of them with me. For others, I would like to
say don’t stop achieving your dreams. You can achieve
them any day; you only need determination.
Surely Nieves recently moved to Spanish GED from ESOL. Her teacher is
Renuka Karunaratne.