Juan Carlos was lives a happy and successful life in the United States, but it wasn’t always this way. He immigrated to the United States in 2003 along with his wife and two children. They were all originally from Columbia, a country he loves very dearly, but left for two reasons. First, his wife heard stories of how beautiful America is from her sister who had lived there for 10 years prior to their immigration. This was enough motivation for his wife, and out of true love Juan wanted her to pursue this dream. He also had another compelling reason to immigrate: safety.
1989 was the height of Gorilla power around Columbia, and the government responded. A mandatory draft was installed into Columbia, which essentially demanded one in every three hundred Columbia men fit for service would be drafted into the army. To carry out the order, each group of three hundred men were put into one room to choose golf balls out of a box. The first man went- white ball. The Second man went- white ball. The third man went- white ball. Juan Carlos was the sixth man and reached into the box only to pull a red golf ball.
It was his third year of service when he took part in a battle on the border of Columbia and Venezuela fighting off gorillas. An hour into the operation however, he took a bullet wound to the torso, but stilled marched on. It was only after the operation he was sent to the hospital. Two months later he was relieved from the army and took a successful job working for the Government’s Department of Water. He soon left that success to travel to New York just a few years later. In truth, he says, he moved to America all for his wife. When he first arrived he was able to find some odd jobs, but nothing stable. He recalls life in New York not to be very hard after he found his job, but before that he was forced to rent a room at a motel with the extra cash he had brought with him from his past life in Columbia. He recalled one week of having to live off of just bread, crackers, and Campbell soup. It was tough, he said, but if anything it brought him and his family closer than ever. His main obstacle, in his eyes, was his lack of English speaking abilities. He remedied this by committing to community college courses. He then came to work for a private zoo, his first stable job in America. Sixth months later, however, another drastic change was to come. His wife found a successful job in North Carolina, so for the second time his family all took up their bags and migrated once more. He secured a job as a maintenance worker for a real estate company. Through ten years of hard work and dedication, he is now the head of maintenance for the entire company. Ultimately, he is extremely happy.
