My name is Vince Allen Mercado; I am 19 years old and I live in San Jose (Norwalk currently) in the State of California. I am from the Philippines, a country located in Southeast Asia. I have one sister.
When I was in 3rd grade, my father moved here in Campbell, California to provide for our family. I was really sad back then and didn't realize why he'd left us. We were poor but happy. Ever since he left us, I started studying so hard that I had good grades throughout my school life there. I have lots of friends, smart, the popular guy. I was so happy until, on July 2014, my mom delivers me and my sister news; We'll be leaving for the United States. I don't know what to feel. Should I be happy as my family will be complete finally? Should I be sad that I'll leave everything that I have? Well, I chose to be the latter. I felt devastated because I feel like I already have everything. I spent my last days there with my friends and classmates in school. They even made me a scrapbook with their messages which was really cool. When I said goodbye to my family and friends there, I was crying so much, it didn't sink into me that everything's gonna be different until I was in my first plane ride to here.
On November 27, 2014, we arrived at Fremont, California. It was so cold; It was Thanksgiving by the way. In January, I started middle school. I was alone and didn't know how to approach anyone. High school happened and for 3 years, I have no friends at all. I was so sad about how my life turned upside down once I got here. It was not until senior year, that I found my friends right now that I started to enjoy life.
It was a short time but I enjoyed it. I realize that America provided me opportunities to be who I choose to be. I just didn't realize it sooner which was why I was alone. Right now, I'm a freshman at Cypress College and Cerritos College. I'm majoring in Nursing and plan to transfer to Cal State Long Beach, Cal State LA or UCLA I'm Vince and this is my story.
