Joshua Delacruz
English 101
Mrs. Springstubbe
Sept. 24, 2012
Personal Essay

I said yes, even after my mother told me not to, even after I told my older brother not to two years before, but what could happen, maybe Bill wouldn’t need me so there would be no impact on me. That is what I was thinking in the middle of June 2012. This is about me willingly sacrificing my summer to go work in a small town in Nebraska that has a population of about 2,500 and is at least two hours from the nearest Wal-Mart. To add on I’m also accustomed to life in a city where there’s actually traffic, and used to the noises of emergency vehicles’ sirens going off at about 2 a.m.
Both my dad and my uncle go almost yearly to a small town in Nebraska to work for a man named William V. Stroup, who owns a maintenance company that my dad and my uncle work in. My dad had gotten news that the bus that was bringing my uncle to Nebraska was hit in an accident and would not make it on time, or not all. At the time that this happened, it was about the middle of May and my dad had already left because Bill and my uncle would meet in Omaha, Nebraska and from there go to Valentine, where Bill Stroup lived and based his company. The work that the company does is mostly painting things in factories, farmhouses and large farm silos, and putting up signs for the companies they would work for. The work would be done mostly by my uncle and my dad, and Bill would work on getting the work, contracts from bigger companies, but would rarely work with my dad and uncle, but what they just found out was that my uncle would not be coming to work because of surgeries that would have to be done soon, because of the bus accident. The work would soon become overwhelming for my dad and Bill, who were ages forty-two and sixty-five, so they would soon need another worker. It was about mid-May 2012, and I was still in school, so I was out of the question at the time. However, the people that my dad recommended Bill couldn’t go or were working already.
My dad called me and told me if I would be willing to go work in Nebraska, I told him I’d think about it. Two years earlier my brother Eddy was also asked to go but my family and I kept telling him not to, that he would ruin his summer and he could just find a job here. He didn’t go and he did get a job in MI. After I had gotten off the phone with my dad my mom kept reminding me what I had told my brother two years earlier, and telling me not to go, that I could get a job here in MI. I couldn’t remember telling him not to go but even my dad told me I had told my brother that.
Anyway, an overview of the pros and cons of going and staying were, if I stayed I could work here; I could take care of my siblings because Eddy worked. The bad things were that there would probably be no one to take me to and from work, and I wouldn’t have a car to learn to drive with. In NE however, the work would be with my dad, I wouldn’t be earning minimum wage and he would be able to teach me to drive. The cons were being about 16 hours from home, no friends or family except my dad. I’m really close to my family because my older brother is only twenty but still lives with us. Sacrificing my summer is a big thing for me, because summer is about having fun playing soccer and football with a lot of friends at church, and going to Lake Michigan. After looking at everything giving it hard thought, I decided to go. When my dad called again I told him I would go if they needed me, and if Bill approved. I didn’t find out if I was going to go for sure until the week of my graduation, June 9, 2012 was the graduation date. My dad arrived home from NE on the fourth of June which was the Monday and then told me that I would be going back to NE with him. So I started putting the stuff I would need in a suitcase, clothes for work and other regular clothing.
We left Michigan on the Monday after the graduation, and somehow it didn’t feel like we were on the road for 16 hours. Maybe I was kind of excited to work painting large objects, whatever it was I still don’t know. We arrived on Monday, noon, I met Bill then we went to a motel that would become my home for the next two and a half months. Over the course of those months and two weeks, I learned to paint with a spray gun, to cut down trees with a chainsaw, to use a chainsaw, and to be smart about my money. I also learned to drive automatic and manual, and load and fire a 9mm handgun.
It was unbelievably boring though, my dad and I both bought a word search puzzle book, and I finished a little over half of the book. The town was boring because there isn’t anything to do, my dad and I would come back from work, shower, go eat somewhere and then go back to our little motel room to watch television.
I can say it was worth, it did teach me that I would not want to keep going there for the rest of my life, just to make a living for myself and family. It also taught me to be grateful of what I have at home, in Michigan.