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Omar Robledo
English 12
Mr. Steed
05-16-2016
Sometimes I just sit brooding about my past and I think about the many times I could
have destroyed my own life. I hate to be so frank about it, but I used to make horrible decisions
before my mental revelation occurred. I am absolutely thankful that I arrived to LALA for high
school. In a way, it was my sanctuary during my first years of high schoolwhich may have
been one of the most violent years of my life; that is when I was outside of school. I would
purposely stay afterschool just to get my homework done and explicitly to stay away from the
streets. What would have happened had I gone off to attend public high school and run into
trouble on a daily basis. Public high schools in my area were full of gang activity until the 2012
raids on the Mexican Mafia gang leaders.
While in the 8th grade, I saw myself turn into a totally different person. Many events
occurred during my last year of middle school: I was pulled over many times by police officers
for absurd reasons. I had never received a ticket for anything other than for riding a bike on the
street. I was assaulted by thirteen people at a park in a setup I was surrounded by drugs. I was
eventually gang related [please rephrase this for clarity].
When I finished middle school and got ready to attend high school, I was expecting to
bump into trouble at Franklin High Schoolthe presumptive high school I was supposed to
attend. I postulate that I would have been suspended from high school due to multiple fights and
various illegal activities. The choices I might have made would have resulted in my expulsion.

After being kicked out of high school, the streets would have been my only road. College would
not have been a possibility.
One day I had a dream that one of my closest friends, Robert, and I were cruising down
Figueroa Street. It was a sunny California day while we played loud music and were up to no
good. Robert is now lost on drugs. I stopped talking to him after a dispute we had. I can still
remember myself surrounded by many of my old friends while they smoked their
methamphetamines from their pipes. In all honesty, had I been in the streets long enough and
had I still affiliated myself with these people, I would probably be addicted and lost to meth as
well. There were many times I was offered it and I had always declined the offer. Sometimes
they would push it and I would forcibly deny their offer. But, with all the pressure and
unnecessary stress I would have due to paranoia and anger, I would probably be stuck on crystal
meth eventually. I was not much into sports and I felt the streets to be a place where I could gain
respect.
I thought I might serve time in prison eventually. It seemed inevitable. Without the
knowledge I gained from reading and educating myself, I would not be as wise. Many of the
people who surrounded me were criminals. There was always illegal activity around me. I
perceived that one day I might be charged by affiliation. I thought that the police wanted to stop
me and check me due to the way I dressed. Therefore, I would probably be in prison or county
jail in my alternate life.
Life would be a totally different had I not come to LALA. I am deeply grateful for the
persuasion and motivation I received here, which, in essence, saved my life. The staff and
people I have met here have shown me that there is a different path, a different future that could
be reached with a far better outcome. Sometimes I surprise myself that I lived through and

changed my past lifestyle. Every time I think about my changed self, I will think of LALA as the
school that took me out of the hood.