This Is What It Feels Like

Light and Darkness Yeimy Beato At the beginning of the school year, in some way, no one seemed to understand me. My dreams seemed farther than ever, and it seemed like I would never reach them, and less so where I was. Everything changed in the middle of the semester. I was on a plane to the U.S. I don’t know how it happened, but it’s a great way to make my dreams come true. It’s been a very difficult change, but they say that different is good. It’s been a challenge to learn English and have to live without my mom. In life I’ve learned that we have to keep going no matter what the circumstances are. In the end the best thing is that I’m in a place where I can achieve my dreams. Obviously it won’t be easy, but in the end the effort will be worth it or I hope it will, but I think it will be.

These were my words at the beginning of the school year. I cried when I reread it because it filled me with nostalgia to see how much I’ve achieved. It seems like so long ago, but at the same time not long ago. The beginning of the year in the US was full of tears for me. The fear and darkness took over me and it seemed like I’d never see the sunshine again. One day I realized that to beat the darkness I’d have to accept the fact that the light might take a while, and the darkness wasn’t so bad. The light in the end was always there but I didn’t see it. The whole time my eyes were closed from fear. Fear from opening my eyes, but that’s not it, fear of becoming myself, fear of the language, fear of being judged, fear to accept myself as I am. I spend so much time thinking that the light could be the sun that I never thought that the light could be me. The light that I needed to 10.