Cristhian Gutierrez- Resuming the Responsibility

Introduction.

I chose to interview a friend of mines that I've met in school. At first glance, he's the kinda person you'd be scared to approach because of his baggy clothes, long hair and tattoos. But the more I got to know him throughout my semester in school, I started to see that he is a very educated man and you can see that his mentality is derived from experiences he faced growing up. During the interview, I was completely shocked of his life story, and through the times that I talked to him, I've come to greatly respect him as a person, and as a role model.

Table of Contents:

I. Background Information

II. Growing up without Parental Guidance
III. Foster Care
III. A Father Figure
IV. Turning Point
V. Friendly Advice
VI. Conclusion

Background Information:

In this segment, Cristhian talks about his past regarding his family and himself. He talked about his parents having to leave home, Nicaragua, due to military threats and involvement and moving to Mexico and from there entering the United States from the border. He grew mostly around the mission in san francisco where he talked about his times hanging out with a lot of the "land people". He also talks about the experiences his Mother went through while he was growing up and how he took care of his three younger sisters.

Growing up without Parental Guidance:

Growing up in the mission and not having his parents around most of the time, Cristhian spent his days hanging out in the streets along with the other kids in the neighborhood. He was exposed to a lot of gangs and violence and to him that was normal. He was introduced to it at such an early age that being around that environment was normal for him and his family. Being in foster care, social workers took care of him and took him out of his high school and put him in a school with a better environment and prohibited him off his gang involvement and even restricted him from wearing certain style of clothing. 

Foster Care:

In this clip, Cristhian talks about him and his sisters' experiences with foster care. For Cristhian, foster care was good, he was put in a good home with nice people, although he did move around a little, he always ended up in a good environment. It was another story for his sisters. One of his sister stayed in a home where if she wasn't home by a certain time, they would lock her out and force her to find another place to sleep through the night. 

A Father Figure:

Without his parents, his mom going in and out of the prison and not assuming responsibility for him and his sisters, Cristhian had to step in as the provider for the family. He did what he had to do to have the things he has now so that his little sisters and their kids wouldn't have to go through what he did. Accumulating money was the only way to keep them out of trouble as much as possible so that they can focus more in school and on growing up. 

The Turning Point:

Once he decided to leave school to work and provide for himself and his sisters, Cristhain explored different jobs from working at Costco and Kelly Moore, to working in the medical field and later on starting his own independent work for another company. Later on, he would decide to go back to school but even through the times he wasn't in college, he always believed in self education and learning new things.

Friendly Advice:

This video talks about what Cristhian learn form the experiences he faced. he gives a little advice "take accountability of your actions". he explains that if you're going to live a lifestyle, then you have to learn to take the good with the bad and never think yourself as an exception, learn from other people's mistakes. 

Conclusion:

Growing up, I had plenty of opportunities to do a lot of the things I wanted. I used to believe that to have opportunities, means you need to have money. In a way I still do believe it, but hearing the story of Cristhian Gutierrez, I've come to believe that opportunities are taken, not given or bought, he is the proof of this. From enduring hardships from the time his mom went in and out of prison, learning how to fend for himself in the street, never staying in a house for too long, living away from his family, and to assuming responsibility for his sisters at a young age when his own mom turned her back on them.  The experiences you face in life molds you to become the person you are today.