My dad, Samuel is someone I admire. He always told me if you want to succeed in life don't stop just go for it. Instead of doing what the soldiers told him to do, he followed what he wanted to do and ran from the army. To start, he went through a lot of trouble to have a better life. He will never forget his childhood because he went through some crazy times starting with food, school, and money. Even though he had all these troubles, that didn't stop him from achieving his goals in life.

As a result, growing up he had it pretty tough. He was born in El Salvador in a place called Chalatenango. The sun always shimmered and only sometimes it rained. The streets had rocks and a lot of trees. He never had a nice pair of shoes because of money. All they used the money for was to pay the house and to buy food. He was the youngest out of nine kids. His shoes and shirt will be dirty or ripped. He was always chill with his family. They didn't have a lot of money so they had to share tortillas and soup.

Most of the time, his brothers played tag happily and fun everyday. Years later, my dad turned five so he started to go to school. My dad always used to go to school and work hard. He had good grades; however he doesn’t do his homework sometimes. My dad’s school was represented by blue because of the Salvadorean flag. In his free time he played soccer with his friends. He always behaved calmly and he never liked to get in trouble. Only sometimes he would cause trouble that he would regret.

He had to wake up in the morning to catch the school bus. Fortunately, when he missed the bus he would get there late and he would get in trouble. Back then the school lunches weren't free so since he didn't have money, he didn't eat. Sometimes he would have some money and use it for school. When he got home he finished his homework quickly and carefully because he wanted to go play soccer with his friends.

Then, suddenly war was raging the streets of El Salvador. The war was a civil war because it was the same country. Every night there used to be gunfire and in the morning there would be dead bodies in the rocky streets. Everyone was fighting while the children were crying. All of the kids including my dad will be scared because of all the gunshots and explosive from the night. Boom! Every now and then they scarred millions of random people with death.

Unfortunately, there was so much violence that everyone was scared to even go out in the street. Most of the time when someone goes outside blood will be covering the streets. The dead bodies will have bullets inside of them. Most of the people killed random people brutally.

Clearly, because of the war nobody wanted to go to the market, or school. Everywhere you go there will be blood spilled on the floor. The soldiers always recruit whoever they want without permission. His mom woke him up in the morning so that he can take a shower. The water will always be cold.

His mom asked“ Go get some milk because we ran out”!

Loyally He replied, “Alright let me just finish dressing then I'll go”.

Eagerly he changed so his mom won’t get mad. He went to the backyard to the cow to get a load of milk. He patiently got the milk. He heard some noises inside of the house so he went running inside and there the soldiers were with their guns. The soldiers were standing there looking at him.

“ You are coming with me I don’t care if you want to or not” The soldier urgently demanded

“Why?” He wondered.

“I don’t want to go with you” he angrily screamed

My dad was 19 when they took him and turned him into a soldier. He didn’t want to be a soldier but he didn’t have an option. Hopelessly he went with them. That was one of the least things he wanted to be. He doesn't like to kill people or even see people getting killed. They also killed random people. In his mind he remembered about his brother. One day my dads brother went outside and usually when it gets dark he gets home.

They noticed that he wasn't at home so they were going to wait till the morning because there might suddenly be gunshots. He was thinking that something bad had happened to his brother.

According to what he said every morning they had to exercise and run. In his mind he probably wanted to go back to his normal life.When they run they have to wear their equipment so that gets you more tired. Most people would get so tired that they will collapse in the middle of the run. They also had to clean thier gun so that it wont get jammed. The guns were as heavy as rocks. There were a lot of guns: M16, M 60’S. So he decided to leave and before he leaves he has to talk to his brother so they can get a plan and Cross the border.

“We need to get money if we cross the border.” he said
Then his brother answered “Don’t worry I have been saving money for a day like this.

“Yeah but first we need to say bye to our mom”

It was hard but he actually crossed the border. My dad crossed the border and settled with his brother. The next year my dad got deported by the immigration police. He went to jail for five months and then to El Salvador. He stayed there to spend some time with his mom. he always send us some video tapes about him. Then he missed us and we missed him so he took a risk to cross the border again. He made it and we got to see him again. It was tough because my mom had to support me and my brother when my dad was in El Salvador.

Throughout his life, my father has gone through a lot of troubles and suffered a lot but in the end he made a better life for me and my family. He always answers all of our questions and when my mom is working, he makes us food. He pays attention to our grades, makes sure we’re not failing and drives us to school every morning. From him I have learned to make your goals reality. Also I learned to appreciate what you have because sooner or later you might might not have it. In conclusion, From my dad I learned if you have a dream just don’t stop believing.