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Victoria Collazo Velasquez

J. Snyder

Capstone Rough Draft 2023

20 March 2023

Perfect Imperfections

Throughout my whole life I always wanted to be things that required extreme

skills like a spy, detective, or a ninja. Now that I am grown, these things have become

impossible for me. I stress a lot thinking about my future. How will I ever find something

that will make me succeed in life? How do I find something that I enjoy that will make

me want to stay? I think about my future every day, but what I've learned is that with

becoming successful in life everything takes time, each failure and success will teach

me. Whatever career I take I will learn something out of It and have the experience and

that will lead me to more opportunities and hopefully to the career I love and stay with till

I accomplish my goals.

I am Victoria Collazo, I am 18 years old and a senior in Lee High School. I was

born and raised In Michigan. At a young age, I wasn't really thinking of my future. I was

just being a kid and having fun. I liked going to school just to be with my friends but

that's just about it. I had a normal life growing up but many things came to my life. When

I was ten years old, I left Michigan and went to Guatemala with my mom. I stayed there

for almost three years. It was a very different experience. We lived with my

grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. I also met my sister; she has a disability so it

was hard at first. She also met my mom that had left her when she was a baby. My

mom left to the US to work and earn money to send to my sister and grandparents. I
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learned many new things over in Guatemala. My mom enrolled me in school and I went

to the fifth grade. They told me I couldn't pass grades because I didn’t have the required

papers from there. I decided to stay either way and learn something. My experience in

school was so bad; everyone kept looking at me but I was lucky I had my cousins with

me that made me feel less nervous. The teacher was very nice, but he asked me a lot

of questions. He asked me how school was in the US, how I lived, what we do, and how

things are different from Guatemala and the US. I was so nervous answering these

questions because everyone was silent staring at me waiting for me to talk. I told him

what my old school was like and he seemed very delighted. The kids there sometimes

would laugh at me and I would get dirty stares from the girls. But In the end I made

friends. I stopped going to school when I finished fifth grade. I just stayed in the house

while my cousins would be at school. Looking back, I'm happy I got to experience a new

school. I started to learn how to take care of myself at a young age because my mom

used to work. I learned how to cook, clean and wash clothes by hand. At some point, I

was very sad because I missed my family in the US and my friends. I missed the things

I would do and the things I would eat. Over there I didn't go to restaurants, fast food

places, movies, amusement parks, and I didn't even have a phone or WIFI. My mom

saw how I was slowly getting depressed, so she sent me with my dad to Mexico. I was

very scared because my dad had left us when I was three years old to build his store in

Mexico and a house. The first time I saw my dad was the first week I got to Guatemala.

He drove from Mexico to Guatemala to see me. He brought my grandpa and step sister

with him. He brought me presents and many other things. My dad was expecting me to

leave with him, but I was scared so he left. A couple months later I decided to go with
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him. It was the very first time I was being separated from my mom and it scared me so

much. I met my step mom and my three step siblings. I was there for a while and then

left with my mom. Then I kept doing that, I stayed for a few months with my mom and

left for a few months with my dad. That helped me a lot because In Mexico there are

many things that are in the US. When I was about to turn 15 I got worried about my

education. I wanted to continue school but not in Guatemala or Mexico. I told my mom

how I wanted to go back to the US but she couldn't go back because she doesn't have

papers and she wouldn't be able to take care of me. She talked to my aunt who is like

my second mom, they came to an agreement that she would take care of me. I also

talked to my dad and he was the one that gave me the money for the plane ticket. The

date was set for me to come back to the US. I was so excited because I missed my

hometown so much and my family but at the same time I was sad because I would

leave my mom and not see her anymore. I would also miss my family that I got to know

and get attached to especially my dogs and cats. I came by plane and when I got to

Chicago I saw my family waiting for me. I saw my cousin who was like my sister. We

started to cry and hug each other. I was very happy and the first thing I ate was

Mcdonalds. I had missed the fries. I came to live with my aunt, uncle, and 2 cousins. My

aunt enrolled me in Lee High School. They sent me to 9th grade and that's when I

started my new life here. I made friends, I got a boyfriend, I got a job and I learned more

with time. I also got into makeup and I discovered that I enjoy doing it because I feel so

confident when I have it on. That opened the door for me to try cosmetology/ makeup

artists. I love trying new techniques with makeup and new styles. Even though I have

an idea to become a makeup artist I still worry about my future and stress so much. I
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have gone to therapy but already graduated and that's an accomplishment I have in

life. We got a cat and named him Levi. He was given to us for emotional support and I

love him so much. That's how my ambition to become successful started. I know how I

lived in Guatemala and I don't want to live like that again. I know how my mom and

family are still living. That gives me so much motivation because I want to help them

out. I want to be someone in life. I want my family to have a better life because living

over there is a struggle and I want to help them out. My whole experience in life has

motivated me to graduate and work hard.

My whole life I've been thinking about my future goals, I have always wanted to

live a good life with no financial problems. When I was with my dad I always used to

help him around the store. I used to stock the merchandise, clean everything and be a

cashier. I saw how my dad was living and how his life was good. He even started to

have other businesses. This made me want to have my own business and live like him

so I always used to stay and watch what he would do and how he would manage

everything. I even used to go with him to far places to go get merchandise. I also have a

passion for makeup. I love doing my makeup every time I feel down. It makes me feel

so confident and opens up a new personality. Makeup is a big part of my life and has

teached me many skills. Many people would say makeup is unnecessary and that

people don't need it. They mostly say this because they don’t have much confidence or

simply don’t like it but as someone who wears it “ self-esteem and confidence are

beautiful. Don't think of yourself poorly or wish to be anyone else, instead embrace your

personal beauty and be happy” (Tikari 5). As a makeup artist in the future, I would like

to take care of people's faces. A makeup artist can determine the best look for their
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client by using their skills. To solve this challenge I hope to conquer this field because

“to make your clients look and feel their absolute best. Giving them confidence.

(“Glamour job”) is what is my goal for every client I hope to have. My other future goals

are to get married and travel the world and build our own house and then have children.

I would love to live in a place where I have a big garden and can have horses, cows,

chickens and more animals. These are my future goals I wish to accomplish someday.

In order to reach my goals I am going to sign up for a cosmetology class and I

will learn all the skills I have to. When I have free time I plan to go with my dad and

learn from him, I will accompany him to his meetings and learn everything from him. I

am going to still work to cover all my expenses, I will have a full time job so It helps me

more financially. These are the first steps I am taking to reach my goals. After all that is

done I plan to do makeup and win something out of it. I plan to save as much money to

open up my own business. I will promote my business and my family will help me with it

too. Following my plans I will most likely succeed but I also know not everything is going

to go my way and many hard obstacles will come my way. But I will learn and I know not

to give up. With all my money saved up I will buy my own house and still keep saving

up. I will also help my mom financially and with anything else I can. I hope in the future I

am still with my boyfriend and we can have our own family together. I will always think

of the consequences and will try to do everything slowly and not rush everything so

things can go my way.

My whole life I have been stressing about everything, now I have an Idea of what

to do and who to become. I am thankful for everyone that has been pushing me to the

right path. I want to become someone for my mom. I want to give her the help she never
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had and for that I am going to push hard to accomplish my goals. I will try to grow

stronger everyday because in this world anything can happen. Nothing is promised in

life so I will try to enjoy every second of it.

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Works Cited

“Glamour Job.” Career World, vol. 34, no. 3, Nov. 2005, p. 10. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=a9h&AN=19226451&site=ehost-live&

scope=site.

Tikari, Vidya. “Secrets of a Beauty Queen.” Prevention India, Apr. 2010, p. 5.

EBSCOhost,search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=a9h&AN=59645746&site=ehost-live&scope=site.