Meet Davies

I became acquainted with Davies through a family member who took Davies in when he moved from Columbia to the United States. It was when I announced that I would be blogging about hope that this family member contacted me and said "I have a story for you." Here is that story:

My name is Davies Sanchez. I come from a family of five, myself included. My dad is a doctor as well as my mom. My older sister and younger brother are in medical school right now. I never enjoyed the medical field as much as they did, so I knew something was going to be different for me.

I graduated from high school when I was 15, but I did not know what to study after that. I did not want to disappoint my family by announcing that I was not going to be a doctor so I took a break after high school.

Before I turned 17, I moved to the US with the help of my parents and friends. I was a minor and did not speak English at all, so it was hard for me not to have my parents with me. I have to say I hated it in the beginning. I could not go out because I did not know where to go. I could not make friends because I couldn't communicate with them. And what may have been the hardest for me is the fact that I could not even stay alone in my house because of a law regarding minors. All I could do was wait for classes to begin, which no kid really wants. I told myself that I had to take action or simply give up and come back home.

With the passing of time, I learned some English so I could communicate with people and I made my way through school. I'm almost done with my general classes at the LDS Business College in Salt Lake City, UT. I work part-time and will hopefully transfer to a university to complete my goals.

When I asked Davies to write his story for me, he told me his English is not perfect but that he would try.  He graciously took the time to write this while in school and while working on other assignments.  I thank him.  I thank him too for his example of hope.  I believe where there is hope, there is desire.  Davies desired something different for himself which took courage as well as a step into the unknown and into an uncomfortable environment in order to achieve that desire.  It was difficult, but it will be worth it.  When faced with the choice "take action" or "simply give up" Davies chose action.  I hope you do too.