I am From
Elena Sanchez
I am from the big yellow house in the middle of the street
I am from the street where there’s no bike riding,
The street where the ice cream truck never slows down
I am from the porch you could hide under
I am from the house that had dirt where grass should be
I am from the stolen skateboard
I am from the school where asking for help was tattling
I am from the desk in the back corner
I am from the books read at recess
I am from the pictures drawn in gym
I am from the broken lunchbox
I am from a fight on the playground
I am from a weave in my eight year old hands
I am from ignoring rumors and laughing them off
I am from dismissing the past
I am from learning to trust and making friends
I am from the CD’s on repeat
I am from the notebook under my mattress
I am from 100 pairs of headphones blown out
I am from 1,000 mistakes huge mistakes and meager relationships
I am from dreams of being someone
I am from frustrated tears on a pillow
I am from the tissues that dried them away
I am from a mother who never gave up
I am from crawling through life but
I am from getting back up as well
I am from pain I thought would never end
I am from victory over my younger years
I am from saddle shoes and out of style clothes
And I am from making them work
I am from a mold of my own
I am from perseverance
I am from never staying down
I am from a fight that will never end
Elena Sanchez wrote this poem during her senior year at Saint Martin de Porres High School in Cleveland. A work study program helped pay her tuition, and a scholarship helped.
Elena then attended Oberlin College – on a scholarship. She is now an Account Manager for a major company in the Midwest.
The development profession helped make her education possible. That is a humbling feeling, indeed.