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My name is Kevin, I'm 21 years old,
and I'm a freshman in college.
I never thought about college
because my parents didn't go to college,
my brother didn't go to college.
My parents are both from El Salvador,
came to Minnesota when I was ten years old.
I had to come to a country where I didn't speak English,
and because of that I struggled a lot in school.
Not that many people believed in me.
It hurt me, but I didn't let it get to me
because I knew that either way, I was going
to have to prove them wrong, and I actually did.
I wrote an essay, and I got accepted to college.
I wish I would have known that college was possible,
that you get a lot of support and help
from your professors and instructors.
Now that I'm here, I'm getting all my work done.
You get the help you need if you want to,
so everything is possible.
But prepare yourself, 'cause it's not going to be all easy.
You're going to have to work on your own,
learn how to study for a test, how to take notes.
Believe in yourself, you know,
you gotta be positive about everything.
There will be times when you're gonna be alone,
but just remember that you gotta be positive
and that anything is possible.
I get financial aid.
I also work, I'm a janitor, and I'm a music producer
and a graphic designer.
I have people from church, friends, who want
to record their music, mix tape, EP,
so they'll just contact me, and then we'll get it rollin'.
It is very important to go to college
because you can go out there and try to have a career,
start your business, start something, but you're always
going to need a title, you're always gonna need something,
You can go to a place and tell them
I know how to do this, but can you prove it?
'Cause that's how it is nowadays.
If you don't have a paper that says
that you have something, they won't basically hire you.
So it is very important to get the knowledge you need.
You might know some, but there will be stuff
that you will learn while you're in college.
I want to help other people; I want to help kids,
that never got the attention I didn't get when I was little,
so I figure I do something with my life
and become a counselor, and that's
what I'm actually going for right now.
I'll never regret anything I've been through
'cause it has made me who I am now, you know?
There were times where I just wanted to go
live with my grandparents and just help them,
but by me going to school, getting a career,
being something, will actually be able
to help my parents and people around me.
It's hard, but I can work it out.
I know that at the end of the day,
I'm gonna smile and laugh
and think back about everything that I went through.
I'm gonna be happy.
I'm like very, very proud of myself.