Rogelio De Las Casas

Dad

My hero: Rogelio De Las Casas.

My hero is my dad because he is a really good father and a leader. I will show you some things that best describe my dad. One of the things that really amazes me about my dad is that he never gives up, even if things are really hard, and he succeeds most of the time.

Selflessness is one of my favorite things that I will write about. When my dad moved from Cuba to Venezuela he did not bring us, because we did not have enough money. He dedicated as much time as he could to help us come here. When he finally got enough money, he helped me, my mom, and my sister to go to Venezuela. He also helped his brother go to Venezuela and his sister too! He helped her go to Venezuela and then go to Spain. Since he paid for all of us, he did not have enough money for himself.

Dad, uncle, and Mom

When we got to Venezuela, our next step was going to the United States. My dad knew he could do it but he did not know how. Then, he realized that he could do it through his job. In order to do that, he needed to follow several steps to be at the same levels as the specialists in the United States. First, he needed to take two tests to be a certified specialist. It took four years to be ready to do the tests and apply for a job to the United States.

But even the tests weren’t enough to get a job in the United States. He sent more than 300 resumes to companies in the United States during a period of time of 2 years; he applied twice to get a visa to come to the United States. (I must clarify that he never wanted to come to the United States illegally.) He got a visa to come to an engineering conference in the United States, and finally got a job offer at an American engineering company. In the end he needed four years of planning, testing, and a few hundred resumes to get his first American job offer.

When he went back to Venezuela, the attack on the Twin Towers occurred. It meant that immigration law changed abruptly, and he had to wait two years instead of three months to get a work visa. During these two years, he received several job offers to stay in Venezuela, but he declined all of them, because he was sure that no matter what difficulties, he would arrive in the United States.

Dad at work in break

When he started working in the United States, his English was not good, and he could not work as a specialist. He worked during those two years like a technician, but he never gave up. He was determined to learn English and new techniques from the bottom of his work field.

During these two years, he did everything he was told to do, trying to be sure that he could fulfill all his duties. He worked from Monday to Saturday, 10 hours a day when he was only paid for 40 hours a week.

Now that we have all reached our goals in coming to the United States and being together, he is trying to give back all the time that he lost being alone, spending as much time with us as he can.

Dad, Mom, and Aunt.