How Readers Digest Influenced My LifeI remember going through the pages and reading “Life in these Unites States”, "Humor In Uniform", and “Laughter, the best medicine”; in Spanish of course. I read other short stories and Remember reading something that mentioned Chicago and Los Angeles. I had heard of Los Angeles a few times before and the name sounded like something out of this world. Chicago. The name itself made a great impression! After getting my hands on a few more digests, I began to learn a little more about the United States. To this day, every time I get my hands on one, I go straight to those sections. At age 12, I decided I was going to the United States sooner or later and the desire burned stronger at the age of 14 because I got kicked out of “college”. (In those days, only a 6th grade education was required in Honduras. Junior high and high school was like “going to college” and most “colleges” charged tuition fees and was not required to attend.) My dad, who was separated from my mother, enrolled me that year and 4 months later, he stopped paying the tuition fees. One day, I was in class and someone escorted me out of the classroom saying, I was not longer in school. The next year, one of my aunts said he was going to enroll me again but, I refused. I told her to tell him “thanks, but no thanks. When I grow up, I will pay my way through college.” I already new about the opportunities this country had and I made up my mind that I was going to school once I got here. What’s the big deal about Readers Digest? You may ask. Tocoa was a remote town in those days. It was out in the bunnies and the only way to get out was by walking, wagon pulled by oxen, or horseback. Getting something out of the ordinary meant to spend some money; money I didn't have. Return from readers digest to
|
