Sorry

           My name is Giovanny, I am 17 years old and I am from Nicaragua. I moved to the United States at the age of 12 in 2018. In Nicaragua, I lived with my sister and mom. Most of the time when my mom was working, I would go to my grandparents house after school. When I moved to the United States,I started living with my dad. He was always a present father figure but I never lived with him so it was a whole new experience. I started living with him, my stepmom and my half siblings but I was lucky to be accepted by them and to live as if they were my full blood family, I had to adapt to a country that was nothing like mine. The American culture has many differences to the Nicaraguan and hispanic culture that I was used to. The food was not similar, way more industrial and unnatural, flavors were not there and styles of gastronomies that I was not familiar with were abundant. The music people listen to here is different than what we listen to in Latin America, most people listen to rap in the U.S but we listen to Reggaeton, Bachata, Salsa and many other genres that you can really find them in hispanic households.. I felt like I was lonely, I missed the feeling of being home. I did not know anyone, and I had to adapt to the rigorous system, schools were way bigger than in my country, having to walk in between classes was new to me and the language was a whole different thing. I understood some things, but I barely spoke it. In fact, I was so intimidated by the new system that during my first day of school here in the U.S., I started crying when it was the moment to go to my first class. During my classes, I was lucky enough to meet people that had similarities with me, they spoke Spanish, they had similar cultures and they made me feel welcome. The bad thing about staying inside my comfort zone is that I was going to have a harder time learning the language, learning the culture and getting used to the system. Luckily, my family that has been living here since 2014 has been involved in Boys Scouts. My first impression of the program was that it looked dumb, useless and childish. But you should never judge a book by its cover. 

       The program was nothing like I expected it to be, it was better. A week after I joined, I went on my first camping trip ever and I did not know anything about camping. As a matter of fact, while I was setting up my tent, It flew into a lake because I didn’t secure it .When I got to high school, I joined the Entrepreneurship and Leadership Military Academy magnet program at Hollywood Hills where I basically found another family. I am currently a senior in high school, I have the rank of Captain in JROTC while being Company Commander for the largest company in the battalion. During my high school experience, I have been part of so many extracurricular activities. I was part of the Student Government Association, I played percussion in marching band, played varsity soccer, and I am currently part of Latinos in Action. 

      I can say my story was unique and different. It had its ups and downs but I fortunately learned how to overcome my challenges and learn from them.