Violence
Wilson's story

How can you get away from a violent life? Wilson got into a peer leadership program, and turned away from violence. He learned how to leave loneliness behind.

My family is a Vietnamese-Cambodian family. We speak both languages. The places I've been and the experience I've had affected me so much. Moving was always hard. I had to make new friends. I had to leave my old friends.

One day my friend Visif was hanging out at another friend's house. The other guy was showing him a gun that was not loaded, but yet he had another gun in back of him that was loaded. My friend turned around for a couple seconds. The guy pulled out a gun and shot him.

I went to his funeral. I was flashing back to all the memories we had with each other. All the fun we had, and how we always backed each other up. He was in the casket, I seen him go down. I just couldn't bear seeing him go down. I couldn't bear it. I treated him like a younger brother, and he treated me like an older brother.

It was just sad. I used to just go into my room, turn off all the lights, just throw down the blinds, listen to the saddest song. I’d just sit there and cry and think how angry I got at the guy that did that. When I suppressed it, I sort of went crazy.

I got angry at everybody, and I got angry at myself. Why couldn't I just go over there and help him? Maybe I could give up my life for his, or stuff like that. I used to go around the neighborhood just beating up any kid I’d see.

I was so angry because a lot of pressure was built up inside of me. The only time I would release it, was if I got in a fight.

The guys I hung around with, we got into fights with everybody. That gave us a reputation of like, us being the big tough guys.

One day my advisor recommended this place (a volunteer peer leadership program). A few months later, I went and saw that they were Asian and no different than me. I got to meet some friends. I enjoy it. People talk to me. We do community outreach. I like that. I love kids. I love telling them about stuff that they should really know about their future and what they're going to face.

I talk to people more often. I don't stay alone no more. I guess I realized that staying alone ain't going to help. You got to be with a group of people and tell them about your experiences. They'll listen. They'll understand. I've made more friends that way, instead of just being alone.