Everything changed when I started high school. In my first three days, problems with gangs started happening. I had to leave my high school because we received a call from gang members threatening my family and me, and they wanted to force us to give money as a way to intimidate us.
During the call from gang members, we had to negotiate on money with them because they did not stop. They did not leave us alone and they scared us. Then we had to leave our house and go to another place out of the city. But still we were not safe because we didn’t escape far from where we were originally and because they control most of the country. My mother decided my life was at risk. Thinking about going to the U.S. frightened me. It was difficult for me because I didn’t want to leave my country and friends in El Salvador.