Excerpt from the upcoming book written by Joe Paul – “From the Bottom”

The driver opened the door to the vintage yellow school bus and I quickly jumped off. All I could think about was the flavorful dinner that awaited my arrival. It was Tuesday, which meant my mother was preparing my favorite meal, “griot avec diri a poi,” a popular Haitian dish consisting of marinated fried pork chunks served with a creamy black bean sauce that usually made its home atop a hill of fluffy white jasmine rice. With books in tow, I raced home not realizing that this particular Tuesday my favorite meal would be shared with a life altering experience.

The half-mile dash which began as a casual walk, transformed into an almost snail like crawl as I approached my house. A snow white and forest green Chevy Impala with Miami-Dade County Sheriff decals tattooed over its body was parked beside my house. The lawn was littered with our furniture and clothing. I didn’t understand why a yard sale required police supervision. We were being evicted.

I was forced into independence at the tender age of thirteen. The tragic sum of the bank seizure of our family home coupled with the separation of my parents unfortunately introduced me to one of many social crises that continue to plague our society. I was homeless. I found shelter in small bedroom closets, cold garage floors and spent many nights at Greyhound Bus Terminals in search of a better way. Losing hope and running out of places to sleep, I was introduced to Bridge Tomorrow through a teen crisis hotline I had called earlier that day. Bridge Tomorrow is a group home for underprivileged and abandoned children.

Finding a place to rest my head was not the only worry that occupied my thoughts. During this challenging time in my life I was faced with a difficult decision: choose a life of crime-which most of my peers eventually chose, or make the culturally unpopular decision and choose education and strive for a sense of success and normalcy. I am the fifth of ten children who come from Haitian immigrant parents whose education level does not exceed the equivalence of an eighth grade student. Yet they still maintained the wherewithal to encourage us to take advantage of our American education. The words of my father made a permanent home in my mind and heart. With a cigarette in his mouth and a raspy voice, he would express the importance of being well educated. “As long as you have your education, you can be anything in this life,” he told me. “If you want to have what other people will not have in the future, you have to do what other people will not do today.” Prophetic words from a streetwise and well experienced man.

Over time, the constant ringing of my father’s words debased to a ghostly whisper. Education became secondary to finding out how I fit into the social and cultural puzzle of my new home, school, and community. It wasn’t until my senior year in high school that the dense fog created by my issues and once obscured my path became more and more clear. This new awakening led me to ultimately understand that we are not our problems. Our past should merely serve as a reference guide for the future, not an excuse for our shortcomings. This paradigm shift led me to understand that education is paramount and immensely essential towards building a concrete foundation.

My high school experience taught me that the most natural progression after beating the odds to become one of the lucky few to receive a High School Diploma was to “learn a trade.” Against all odds, I was determined to pursue my undergraduate education. I applied to colleges and universities with uncertain results. Many fellow students would never understand the nervous excitement the television character Kevin Arnold on The Wonder Years felt when he received his first college acceptance letter. To me, that scene was similar to a foreign film without the English subtitles. Graciously, I would soon understand Kevin’s joy.

The vintage yellow school bus now took the form of an ash gray and white Ford minivan with “Bridge Tomorrow” in bold navy lettering carefully painted on both sides. The bus stop became my dormitory. Instead of an eviction notice, an educational opportunity awaited. Having been the first of ten children to attend and graduate college, I did not have the luxury of having a “How To” guide passed on to me for good use. I saw this as an opportunity to take advantage of having the autonomy to blaze my own trail. I was given a bucket of sand and decided to make a sandcastle.

In spite of the devastating events that occurred throughout my life, I understood the importance of putting forth maximum effort in order to achieve positive results. Of the tens of thousands of students who attended our university, I reserved the honor and privilege of leading more than a dozen clubs and organizations. I had the ability and tenacity to go from a Homeless Chap to the Homecoming Chief of Florida State University. I went from a child with a sharp tongue to speaking Spanish, French, Creole and Russian fluently. I went from sleeping on the floors of garages in Miami to the learning Russian in the classrooms of Moscow State University. I went from running away to running with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain. I went from a hopeless lad to the first college grad in my family. I went from almost calling it quits to being a Candidate for City Commissioner and from foreclosure to one of the top Real Estate Consultants in the country.

Once I fully understood the true importance of taking advantage of every opportunity, the initial authority I had given to my social issues lessened. My impact on society became increasingly clear. I must share my story. If I can positively affect others lives, then I have served my purpose.

I am more fortunate than most to have learned and experienced the values of hard work, the fruits of perseverance and the belief in oneself required to endure and succeed. In spite of the devastating events that occurred in my life, I understand the importance of putting forth maximum effort in order to produce positive results. For these reasons and more, I share my story in hopes of changing your life.