This might be an interesting story all by itself. A little Chicano boy struggles to learn basic reading and writing skills and is left to wonder if he's as smart as the rest of his peers. He reads Corduroy in 1st grade while the rest of his peers are reading the Magic Tree House books. If he'd been anything but a Chicano boy living in a cramped apartment, he might've been given another opportunity. But he is a Chicano boy living in a cramped apartment and is simply the norm. He grows into a teenager who often speaks about his childhood in the third person as if it will somehow make him feel accomplished about how far he's come and make him forget that he's still that boy.

A neglected Chicano is an easy target, already made self-conscious at an early age; he is bullied by Mexicans for not being Mexican enough and is bullied by Americans for not being American enough. We avoided the other children on a daily basis. They wanted us to pronounce hard words knowing most of us couldn't pronounce the right sounds. We were children of Mexican descent who were expected to be stupid and weird. Almost all of us lived up to those expectations inside a school environment, but we were all disadvantaged. We struggled to read short sentences in school, but we could read bible verses fluently in Spanish. We were disadvantaged but not stupid; we could read and write short stories in Spanish. We could write movie scripts in Spanish, and act the roles out in broken English. They didn't see anything in us; all they saw were illiterate children with no chance of assimilating into American society. As Latino children, we were all expected to be stupid and loud. We believed these things and many of us still do. We only had each other to make friends and form friend groups; we were “dumb” Mexican children, but we stuck together. If one of us failed, we all failed; if one of us got made fun of, we all got made fun of. Those who assimilated quicker and left their cultures behind were accepted by non-Mexicans and were made mockeries of because although they could dress like Americans talk like Americans and act like Americans, they could never fully be Americans. I thought I was a failure. I thought I was stupid. I thought I was slow. I thought I was like the rest of the children. I opened my eyes to the reality that I was at a disadvantage, but that didn't mean I was anything less than what I believed. I could learn if I put my mind to it so I believed in myself and I tried. I began to try in school again, every time I walked into a new classroom I made sure to make the most out of it. I tried to understand what I was taught. I tried learning and I loved it, I tried to push myself and it worked. I did everything I put my mind to, I tried to make my parents proud and It worked. I tried for once and it paid off, I tried to challenge myself and I impressed myself. I learned to read and write in English, and I learned to believe in myself. I stopped doubting myself so much. I know I'm not dumb. I know I'm not slow. I know I'm not stupid. I'm just a disadvantage and I know I can overcome any and all disadvantages. I knew this all along I just doubted myself for too long. I was finally able to believe in myself.