"A Great Time in my Life"

Donald Estrada

Week 15 Blog

I’ve had lots of great times in my life, but one of the most recent ones is when I graduated from my auto technology class. Not only did I graduate, but I graduated at the top of my class. It was a proud moment for me. When was on stage at the graduation ceremony, I saw hundreds and hundreds of people applauding for their graduating loved ones. As I looked around for my own loved ones I had a smile on my face from ear to ear when I finally spotted them. The looks on their faces said it all. I could tell they were proud. My mom, my wife and my grandkids all took turns taking pictures of me in my blue cap and gown. Prior to that I had never really accomplished anything like that before because of the lifestyle I was living. Nothing good was going to come out of living a life of addiction and crime. And nothing ever did. Just the idea of signing up for classes and attending them as scheduled was a big accomplishment for me. One of the great things about going to school was that I began to learn a lot of new things about myself. I learned I could do just as well as the other students in the class and that in order to accomplish things you have to work hard and do the work. But, I think what made this event great was that my family was very proud of me. Their smiling faces said it all. They celebrated by taking me out to dinner at my favorite Chinese restaurants. We ordered so much food. There was so much food everywhere that the owner had to bring us two more tables so we could set the food on it. There were egg rolls, chop suey, chicken chow mein, almond chicken, noodles, soup, pork, and drinks for everyone. We had a great time, telling stories and laughing.