Karlos was raised in a large Mexican family and looked up to his grandfather, a carpenter, and his father, a physician. His grandfather taught him carpentry skills and they would play together with wood boards. His father shared his dreams of joining the Marines and stories of the military. Inspired by his family, Karlos joined the Marines after moving to Texas to start his own family. He credits the exemplary leadership of his parents and those in the Marines with helping him define success through passion, hard work, skill, focus, pushing oneself, service, ideas, and persistence. Today, Karlos is working to improve himself through pursuing a construction management degree.

1. My Story
I was raise in a huge Mexicanfamily,myGrandpa wasa Carpenter,and my Fathera Medical Physician,I
look up to them all my youth, My Grandpa would bring me wood boards for me to play, He would help
me build structures and little houses or garages to play with my little cars, and I would watch my Dad
studyin the eveningsafterwork,Ilovedtositby Hisside and watch Himtryingto explaintome howthe
humananatomyworks,Iwasboredasheck,andwhenHe noticedHe wouldtakeatime off fromHisstudy
session to talk to my about his military dreams, He would share hundreds of stories about the Marines
and then we would pick up Grampa’s wood boards and we would play war with them.
When I turned nineteen years old, I moved away from home to start my own family, I moved from Old
Mexicoto Texas,witha beautiful youngladywhotrustedHerfuture onto me,to be marry and raise Our
own family.Loadedwiththat responsibilityassuch as young age,I decidedthatI wouldput all the hard
work to make Her happy and to build a good family.
So I started workingina CabinetShop,beingfullybilingual gave me the leveragetoassumedLeadership
positions and so I had worked in a Construction related environment for over fifteen years. Developing
and acquiring technical skill and abilities that were instilled into me from Dad and Grandpa, family in
general, and fellow peers.
I didalsojointthe USMarine Corps;I guessall those storiesthatMyFathersharedwithme promptedme
to take one of the best decision in My life, as I was signing the contract, I remembered the look of my
father’s face, His eyes watering and face glowing as He was telling stories to a little kid. It was My time
now to stand for My believes, My family values, and My Country.
AlthoughI had onlyservedsevenyearsinthe Marines,I got my own storiesnow,storiesto tell My own
kids, three boys by the way. I served with honor, and the Marines helped me define the person that I
really am.
The ExemplaryleadershipdisplaybymyParentsandMarinesaroundmylifehadhelpedme definesuccess
in life, and I believe that in order to achieve success you need Passion,like my dad when He was telling
me those stories; you needto Work Hard, in some field that you feel related to and have fun with; you
needto be Good at it, repetitionwill make yougood at it; you needto Focus, inone thing;you needto
Push yourself,find motivation,if you hang out with two successful individuals youwill be the third; you
needto Serve,serve whatitsof value to others; you needto have Ideas,like Bill Gatesright?; andabove
all you need to be Persistent, persist against criticism, rejection, assholes, and pressure.
Today I can honestly say that I know myself, I’m trying to improve myself seeking a college degree in
ConstructionManagementProgramatJohnsonCountyCommunityCollege,LordwillingIwillgraduate in
fall 2017. Is in it great? Rah.
Karlos Velazquez