I didn’t have the chance of going to school here in the U.S. The reason is because I went to Mexico when I was a kid. I went to school in Mexico. But it wasn’t the the same. Some of the teachers didn’t care about the students. There was no point of going. It was a waste of time. I decided to come back from Mexico to help my parents out. I got here at the age of 17. I started working until now. I was in L.A for about 6 months. And then I went to Chicago. I was in the state of Illinois for about 3 months and got laid off of my job. I decided to come back to Oakland and start working. I was on the job for about one year and four months, and again I got laid off. I was thinking to my self “I’m not doing anything! I should go to school” One day I was walking down International Blvd and I saw the “school”, this “school”, the East Oakland Youth Development Center.

I was just thinking about should I go to school or not, so one day I stopped by and asked. I enrolled my self into the G.E.D class and I started the class. I tried my hardest and now I’m finished with the class. Thanks to the people here in EOYDC, I finished with my test.They helped me out with everything I needed help with. I’m just so grateful for knowing these people, this school the helps people out.

Thank You, EOYDC

Juan Salazar
2010 Graduate