Georgia Martinez

October 15, 2008

Qualities of a Successful Person          

          What makes a person successful? Do you know the qualities of a successful person? I thought a successful person was someone who had a lot of money. With in time I learned the qualities of a successful person. In 1990 my mother, brother, and I moved to the U.S. My mother called Ana and my older brother called Fernando also known as Nando lived in a room in my aunt's house. In 1993 my mother suffered a stroke and was treated in the hospital for eight days. My mother made the decision to go back to Peru to get treated because she did not have medical insurance in the US. My mother's side of the family wanted my brother and me to go back to Peru because no one wanted to be responsible for us. Nando refused to move back to Peru and agreed to take care of me in the U.S. I was only 12 years old when my brother and I moved in together. Therefore, I have many qualities to describe about my brother because he is a successful person; for example, his attitude, his energy, and his courage drove him to succeed.

First of all, Nando had a unique and positive attitude. Nando and I moved in together into a small one bedroom apartment with only two beds, so he started working two jobs. Nando would go to work day and night then come home take me to school and pick me up every day. Little by little he started buying furniture, TV’s, and decorations for the apartment. Even when things would go wrong Nando would manage to keep going with a positive attitude. One of my aunts would always tell him to send me back to Peru because he was not capable of raising a little girl. Most of my family was quick to give advice, but never helped him. My aunts will come to our apartment to argue with Nando because in their eyes Nando was not doing well. Nando would say "everything is going to be alright Georgia" after my aunts would leave the apartment. Nando stopped going to high school to be able to work and support the house.

Secondly, Fernando was a person full of energy because he would manage to run errands every day. For example, Nando would get off work; pick me up from school, do grocery shopping, cook, and sometimes do laundry all in one day. As time went by Nando saved enough money to buy equipment to start his own company. Nando quit one job and started cutting lawns in 1998. Nando would have a green board next to the phone in the kitchen to write down the schedule of all the clients that needed their lawn cut every week. Fernando made me responsible for calling him every hour to keep him on schedule while he was cutting lawns. On the other hand, Nando would keep me in check by me calling him because I was home alone. I have to recognize that he made a smart move by making me his dispatcher. Nando took care of me during childhood and adolescence. He showed me how to cook, clean the house, drive a car, and to be independent. Nando would say, “If something is hard to do never quit always keep trying”. For my brother the most important thing was for me to finish high school and have a career. Thanks to him I had perfect attendance in school, good grades, and a job to support myself.

Finally, Fernando had so much courage that he decided to buy a house and go back to school to get his G.E.D. The day after my high school graduation Nando said to me, “It’s time to buy a house”. I questioned my brother asking him why he was going back to school for? Why are we buying a house that we can’t afford? Fernando got mad and said, “You cannot tell me what I can or can’t do. Nothing is impossible in life, specially living in the U.S. I have the spirit and I know I could do it”. That was the last and only time I questioned his actions. My brother told me to be optimistic and to immediately stop thinking negative. On June 1999 my brother completed school and got his G.E.D. from Miami senior High. He never gave up school while he was working, and he would stay late doing his homework. Fernando was like my mother and father all in one. I had never seen Fernando have depressed through, and he never said let's go back to Peru. Fernando got married in 2007 with a nice loving woman. Today Fernando lives in the house he bought in Orlando, Florida.

I sum, Fernando accomplished all his goals. He has his own business, bought his dream house, and got married. This is why I consider my big brother to be a successful person. In my opinion Fernando fought a good fight, finished his course, and kept his faith.