Kenneth Antonio Rivera

My words of advice would be to really work hard at school, stay positive. Continue your education like go to college, but don’t overwork yourself. Always have some time on your own to reflect and spend time thinking about what you want to do. Follow your heart, follow your dreams, don’t forget them. Surround yourself with good people that are supportive. There’s going to be a lot of times that life gets hard, but you gotta remember to smile and think about all those good memories you have.

Kenneth Antonio Rivera

My name is Kenneth Antonio Rivera. I was born in Los Angeles. My family started in Nicaragua, which is in Central America right below Mexico. My family had a farm. Before I was born there was a war there, so my family had to move here to America to escape the war. We ended up in Los Angeles, California.

I was the first person from my family to be born in the United States. I have five older brothers and sisters and two little brothers. So there are eight kids total. I remember one time when I was two or three years old my dad took me to the ocean. I remember him carrying me to the ocean and the waves coming and he said, “Don’t be scared, don’t be scared.” The waves just kept coming and I ducked my head.

When I was eight years old my father was killed during a robbery. I remember waking up and being scared. I was very sad for a long time. My mom had to work after my dad died. She did a lot of working at hotels and cleaning. She tried to find jobs just to work and make a living. She basically raised us on her own.

There were a lot of gangs and lots of crime where I grew up. I would get scared ‘cause there were all these tough kids around the neighborhood. They would intimidate people so you would feel like you had to join a gang. I remember taking different streets just to get to my house so I wouldn’t have to run into the bad gangs.

I went to elementary school down in south Los Angeles. It was just like Hiawatha. I loved playing basketball. I loved math and reading but my favorite subject was history. I love hearing history. When I was around ten, I used to get into trouble a lot. So instead of just taking a time out and staring at the wall, they used to make me draw or write something. So I would sit in the corner and draw.

When I became middle school aged, I actually moved to downtown LA. I got bussed out to the valley, which was like growing up in the downtown and being bussed to a school that is really nice. I really liked the difference going from a little poor town to a nice new school. I tried to work harder.

High school was tough for me because I didn’t have my dad around. But I did have my older brothers that took care of me. I also played sports. Playing basketball and football helped me stay away from the bad stuff. I felt like my coach and friends helped keep me safe from gangs. That’s why I never joined a gang.

After high school I worked on an ambulance. I still wanted to get a different job so I went back to college.

I was studying to be a PE coach. I wanted to coach basketball and football. But when I was in college I started to like art again. That was something I was always good at. So I decided to go into my art career. I transferred to Cal State in Los Angeles. I got my art degree. Then I got my Masters in Art Education.

I was trying to find a job after college and it was really tough in California. My brother lives in Minnesota and told me to come here. I felt like coming to a different city was something really exciting. I got a job working at Anderson School in 2010. My friends, who are all art teachers, and I wanted to spend some time together so we opened up an art studio. We make art and put it up for sale. I do a lot of portraits of my friends and family and I still draw basketball.

In 2012 I came to Hiawatha School. I’m just here helping yous guy out with your reading and your writing. It helps me feel like part of being back in my community back home.