‘Don’t let others define you’

“You define who are going to be and you do so by making the right choices. It is okay to dream, dreams do come true, but you have to make the right choices and do not mind others if you have failures or shortcomings.

I have had failures and shortcomings. I learned from them and I never blamed anyone. I never said I came from a home of a single parent, I did not know my dad, I never blamed anyone on such thing,” Estrada said.

The ambassador was speaking at the final lecture of the Laventille Nights - Distinguished Speaker Series 2016 at corner of Old St. Joseph Road and Erica Street, Laventille, on Tuesday night. Estrada said he has faced many challenges and has had to make tough choices when he grew up in a community where there were drugs, drug dealers and crime.

“Coming back to Laventille, to TT, has been an emotional ride to me. I plan on visiting a lot of schools, a lot of youth...I have no fear. I have a lot of confidence in the youth of TT and leaders of Laventille and I hope this would help influence all of you to do the right thing. If you need to go back to school, go back to school.

“If you need to turn your back on the drug trade, turn your back on it. I encourage you to have a very rich community I have heard people say just ignore that part of the country but to those of you who live in Laventille, you have the will and opportunity to make things better and during my time here I will partner with you,” Estrada told the gathering on Tuesday night.

Estrada said at an early age he had to make tough choices whether he would cave in to peer pressure, do drugs to get easy money or participate in other criminal activities to remain popular. He chose not to.

“I opted instead to stay to stay at home and read the newspapers and see what was going on in the world.

The US Marine Corps was a tough organisation and what attracted me to it was a sense of camaraderie, loyalty, discipline, structure and a fighting spirit. I thought I did not have what it took to be a marine.

I worked after school to help my family “After my first night (of training) I wanted to go back home, but they were not sending you back home.

My trainer said you will either go home as a marine, or you are going to die trying. I wanted to be a marine.

During this time I was tested.

Fellow marines would be sniffing cocaine, using heroine, smoking marijuana, I was exposed to all of this and I had a lot of peer pressure to do the same, but I said no,” Estrada said.

Estrada said as a black man and an immigrant, he never thought he would aspire to one of the highest ranks in the Marine, Sgt Major of the US Marine Corps.