The Pursuit to Happiness

When I watched this movie, I was in anguish. All the bad thinks that happened to Chris Gardner. He couldn't sell his machines. His wife got mad at him. He got many parking tickets. His car was towed away, and he didn't have the money to get it back. One of his machines got stolen, that meant no food for the whole month. His wife left with his son. He was thrown away from his apartment because he didn't pay the rent for three months. He was arrested because he didn't pay his parking tickets. The IRS got his money from the bank. He was thrown out again from the hotel where he lived because he didn't have money to pay for the room. His friend didn't want to pay him his money. He had to go to sleep in a public bathroom with his son, and then he had to go to a shelter to sleep. He even got hit by a car.Good things also happened to him, but not by accident. He got his son back. He could get and internship without pay in a competitive stockbroker training program. He could get into this program because he insisted. He almost chased the guy in charge to give him an opportunity. He demonstrated that he was smart enough to be there. He went to the interview all dirty and without proper clothes. He worked really hard to be in the program. He saved as much time as he could to make as many sales as possible. He made friends with the executives making them all kind of favors. At the same time he had to earn some money to live. He worked during the weekends and evenings. He took care of his son at all times. Finally, he got the position he was looking for. He made excellent sales. At the end, he became millionaire, but thanks to his hard work.

He succeeded because he pursuit to succeed. He worked hard. He had a goal and didn't give up, therefore the circumstances were against him. Nothing comes from nothing. People have to fight to get what they want. If people sit to wait for good thing to happen, they won't happen.

When I was watching this movie, I thought about my own experience. When I came to USA, I didn't speak English and, I had to sleep in a room with five more people. I didn't have a car, so I had walk to go to work. Then, I went to live with my aunt, who assigned me to sleep in a room that wasn't totally built and had holes all over the place. I had to work in sawing factories with all kind of uneducated and mean people. In the mean time, after twelve hours of work, I went to the school at night to learn English. I started the ESL program in a Elementary School because it was free. Then, I could buy an old car, but at least, I didn't have to walk to go to different places.

I kept going to school. I got my GED Diploma. I went to High School to get my High School Diploma. I just had to take the English, and USA History classes because they took all my subject from High School in Mexico. After three years of being learning English, I could go to work at a K-mart. When I got married, I kept going to school to study Medical Assistant. When I got my diploma, I could work in a clinic. After that, I got pregnant. I didn't want anybody to take care of my baby, so I quit working. At that time all bad thing happened. The cars got broken, not job, not enough money to pay bills and food. The utilities were disconnected. We had to move from place to place.

When my daughter was four years old, I started working again. I cleaned houses. It was a disgusting job. I didn't like it, so I started working as a Teacher Assistant in a Public School. I also started working in my certification as a teacher. I worked hard at that. After a few years, I got a position as a Pre-K teacher, but with the same payment as teacher assistant in a private school. I got pregnant again, and I kept going to school. I started a Master Degree Program. I worked hard at that too. We bought a house and apparently everything was going well. Suddenly, bad things started to happen again. My husband abused a girl. He got a warrant for his arrest. He didn't want to face charges and disappeared. He left us alone.

That was a very hard time for me and the girls. My mother and sister came to live to our house to help me with the mortgage, but we were like visitors in my house. I didn't have enough money to pay all the things I had to pay. I had a salary of $1,200.00 dollars a month, and $2,000.00 dollars expenses. I was overwhelmed by the pain for what it happened, and all the things that were over me. I was afraid because many bad things kept happening. God made miracles. I don't know how. I can't explain how because It does not have a logical explanation, but God helped me to pay what I had to pay. I didn't loose the car, or the house. I didn't stay without food for my daughters, or myself.

I finished the Master Degree. I got a better job. I could buy a new car. I moved to San Antonio. I'm not depress any more. Things are better now, and we are optimist about the future. I could relate to the movie because to get what I have now, I had to work hard and pursuit on my purpose. I never gave up, and I hope never give up in the future. I plan to get a PhD Degree and work for a college, or university.