How ICC Has Changed My Life
By Vinícius Lorenzetti, 4/23/19
“Get your hand out of there!” my grandpa yelled at me. I was reaching for the old Portuguese/English dictionary which he kept on the living room shelf.
“Grandpa, I want to learn English!” I said. I was nine years old. He answered me in a calm voice, “Son, we are poor. Why are you trying to learn another language? The poor people were made to work, not to be smart.” He finished filling the truck’s bucket and went to work.
He was right. When you are born poor in a third world country, the only way to make things work without becoming a criminal is working.
When I was 15 years old, I started working at our neighbor’s soccer school for kids. I helped him stock beverages and clean everything. He did not pay me much, but he let me practice with the older kids.
Thiago, one of the older kids, was a drug dealer. He used to make a lot of money and always had brand new cleats.
My grandpa was usually sleeping when I came back from practice. Then, I’d go to the living room shelf, in silence, taking the dictionary to hide and study. When I was 19 years old, the soccer school closed, and I became unemployed. Days after, Thiago offered me a job. The job was to take a package to a person who lived in the neighboring neighborhood.
It was a high-class neighborhood. There was an English school there.
After delivering the package, I decided to get inside that English school to ask the tuition price. The price was almost the same value that Thiago was going to pay me for the job. In addition, there was still money left, so I could buy the books and snacks.
I enrolled. My grandpa got furious at me and said that I was burning my money. I decided to quit the job with Thiago so I would have more time to study and to practice soccer by myself.
After studying one year, my teacher told me that American colleges generally giveathletic scholarships to soccer players. She told me that my English was good and I should try it.
I tried. I sent emails to some colleges but they did not answer me.
Days after, I received a response email from Illinois Central College. I was accepted, receiving an athletic scholarship.
That was the only time I saw my grandpa crying. He sold his truck to help me buy theair tickets. He still keeps the dictionary inside the living room shelf.
Days before I came to America, Thiago was found dead. An enemy gang shot him. Drug business… Thiago was wearing brand new shoes.
I could be Thiago. Any poor person could be Thiago.
That is the reason why, when people ask me how ICC has changed my life, I answer with a smiling face, “ICC did not change my life. ICC saved it.”
Amazing story. Wondering if we have any contact info to reach out to Vinícius to see what he’s doing now? So glad he shared this.