Sorry

  My name is Renel Marcelus and I was born in Miami, Florida to two Haitian immigrant parents which makes me first generation. I also have a sister who is six years older than me. My parents came to the United States looking for better opportunities. They chose South Florida because that’s where most of our family resides and were a lot of the Haitian community is as well. Growing up I really didn’t realize all the struggles that was going on within my family and that’s, well because I was little kid. My parents also would try their best to hide it from me. But I started to figure those things out. They bought a house which wasn’t in a bad area because they wanted to shield me and my sister from that life. But the problem with that was that keeping up with the mortgage  payment as well as other bills has put a strain on them. 

     That being said I am grateful for my situation, because a lot of people don’t have the things and people I have in my life. But still I feel as if that since my parents are starting to get older they can’t keep up with all the stress that they are going through. My dad currently doesn’t have a job so he’s trying to make a business he has in Haiti to work. My mother used to work 3 jobs so we could get by. And my sister is currently trying to figure things out. I feel as if I have a lot of pressure to make sure that this doesn’t continue. And by that I have to go college get a degree and get a well paying job. But the thing is, I have a dream to become a song artist which is my passion. The fear for me is should I go study and get a well-paying stable job which I may not like? Or should I go achieve my dream of being a song artist even if there’s a chance of me failing and being broke and depressed the rest of my life?  

     If I chose to be song artist and fail, my family could suffer from my choice and I don’t want that. I don’t want to be selfish, but I also want what’s best for me and my family. I guess what I’m trying to get at is that I’m still in a situation which I’m trying to make better. There’s a lot more that’s happening than I’m letting on. But I know that I will be able to figure out the answer in time.