Humans of Downey - Carmina and Travis

"My heroes would be my parents. I was born in Nicaragua. They left their careers of being teachers to come here to give us a better life. Our country was at war with itself so my dad brought the whole family here, a country where he didn't speak the language, he didn't have a degree. They had to start all over again. Through his hard work and dedication, I went to college and am now a licensed physician's assistant. He worked for us to give us a better life. He did his part to provide for the family and through his example, he taught us to work hard and to succeed.

"He is now 65 years old and has retired from the construction field. He told us last year, 'My body can't take this anymore.' And so, since he could retire, he did.

"I want my children to be kinda of like me. I want them to be like me by being ambitious and going after things. But there are things about me I don't want them to emulate. I'm told I don't have a sense of humor, that I am always negative. I don't want them to have that drain on them. I want them to be more glowing, happy. That's not something I had in my childhood. Unfortunately, it's a circle and you need to change you so your children will not be like that.

"I notice my kids yell a lot and scream because I'm a screamer. Those are things I've taught them to do. But I want my kids to be happier in life. I have been to meetings through school to learn how to bring more calmness into my life. The psychiatrist told us, "Your kids scream because you scream. If you want that to change you'll need to calm yourself down.' We learned to count then repeat. Don't let them get the best of you because the moment you get angry, they have already won. Sometimes it does help but sometimes I do explode. I'm very short-tempered. Many times I fail because they know my buttons. That is something I need to change, so it is something I'm working on."
~ Carmina