University Here I Come
Today I want to share with you guys my story about going to university and the people who helped me get to where I am. This blog is about one of the biggest impacts Beat the Streets Toronto has had in my life. I want to take you guys back to where I came from, where my decision on my education took a turning point and times when amazing, people believed in me when I didn’t.
My name is Arely Torales and I come from Mexico. My family moved to Canada back in 2005, when I was 4 years old. When I first came to Canada I felt like a visitor, my parents always told me and my siblings that we were only going to be in Canada for 5 years and then return home. Little did we know they said that just to keep us happy as we did not know how tough life was back home and how our lives would be better here. Fast forward eight years, when I was in Middle School, I did not take school seriously. I believed myself to be just an average student, I let that drive me into not trying and taking all applied classes in High School because I didn’t think I was smart enough for Academic classes. When I joined the high school wrestling team in grade 10, I met coaches who helped me believe and gain confidence in myself about taking big steps in school and putting my mind to things I truly want to achieve. They helped me see and unlock the potential I never knew I had.
A life changer.
Wrestle the North 2017.
In 2017 at the “Wrestle The North 2017” event, I was interviewed by CBC News and I said a few things that reminded me every day what I wanted to achieve. Inexact words, I told the world that “I HAVE to go to university” because it’s something I would like to achieve in life, something that would make, not only me but, my family proud. I stayed true to my words, but there were times where I was stressed about school and thought that I wasn’t even going to get into university because I wasn’t good enough or smart enough. I truly never pictured myself going to University but luckily I had, and still have, a great support system thanks to Beat the Streets Toronto.
Some of the people who had a big impact on my road to university were my coaches and my teachers. I want to share with you guys what I cherish about these people. My coaches Bernard Sanchez and Juan Carlos Vargas always inspired and encouraged me to do well in school so I can have a bright future. Some of the advice they gave me were things like
“you have to be more than your parents. They came here to give you a better future.” -Coach Carlos.
Coach Sanchez would tell me,
“have high standards, people view Latinos as low lives, immigrants and bad people but we have to do great things to show society wrong and to make ourselves and our country proud.”
Coach Neal’s story is my favourite due to the inspiration it gave me. He told me about his first day in university and to stop thinking that university is only for smart people but that it’s more so for hard-working students who have goals and dreams in life. Lastly, the last piece of advice came from one of my teachers, he was the one who made me realize I can get good marks if I tried, which was when I changed my classes from college level to university. If it weren’t for these amazing BTST coaches and my teachers I wouldn’t be going to York University in September 2020.
I have learned to live life one match at a time, my next match is against university and I’m excited to start my undeclared year at York in September of 2020. If you want to read more stories like these stay connected to BTST by following our Instagram. If you have some awesome university tips feel free to share them with me on the Instagram post related to this blog.
