Juan-Carlos Luevano grew up in Zecatecas Mexico, where the job opportunities were scarce and the schools weren’t the best. A married man with seven children, Luevano had hoped for a brighter future for his family. That’s when he decided that moving to the United States would help them succeed.
Luevano started off by moving to the U.S. alone. He worked as a field laborer and eventually saved up enough money to get a house in East Los Angeles for him and his family. Luevano bought a small two bedroom house and then the rest of his family, including his wife and seven children, moved and began attending school. All seven kids then graduated high school and went on to study in college.
Now after living in Pico Rivera for 43 years, Luevano says he feels that it was the right decision. Asked if he would do it again, he instantly replied “Yes. It was sad leaving Mexico. I had lived my whole life there, but I knew that my kids would be able to better succeed here.”
Luevano has proven to me that you truly could do anything you put your mind to.
He grew up in a small beautiful city in a relatively safe neighborhood, but he knew that moving here opened the door to many more opportunities. From the first time he voted after becoming a citizen, he knew he made a difference, and quickly learned that his vote counted.
After voting for the first time he felt it was such an honor to actually have the opportunity to voice his freedom of speech.
Sometimes people lose focus on the fact that they have so much to be thankful for. We live in the United States where our ancestors had to fight for our freedom, but these days we have many opportunities handed to us that we don’t appreciate nearly as much as we should.
We need to take advantage of the freedom that we have and the doors that are opened to us. Juan-Carlos is my grandfather, and through him I learned that it doesn’t matter where you’re from or what your background is. What matters is what you make of the opportunities given to you, and in the United States of America, you should be thankful that you’ll have many.
