Success or Failure: You Decide (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781936885176)

Audel Acevedo was born in 1965 in a palm tree hut in a little town in the state of Colima, in Western Mexico. The hut had a dirt floor, and lacked basic services such as running water and electricity. He was one of thirteen children, and was born in extreme poverty. His health was so precarious his family thought he would not survive his first year. His family immigrated to the United States when he was eight years old. He attended school from fifth to eighth grade in Mesa, Arizona. He was always placed in special education classes because his teachers thought he was "dumb" or "mentally retarded." For his classmates, he was the "dumb kid" who could never get any answers right, and they would laugh at him and his "silly" answers. Eventually he dropped out of school to work as a busboy to help his mother who had separated from his father. Acevedo reflects on his life and accomplishments: "I have never allowed my past to determine my future, or someone else's opinion of me to define who I am. Even though the odds were stacked against me, I have achieved every goal I set out to achieve, and made each and every one of my dreams come true. And now it's time for me to share what I have learned, and how I managed to overcome and succeed in the face of adversity. I always was what I wanted to be. Everything I set my mind to, I accomplished through persistence and hard work. Some may think I am intelligent, but I am not; I am persistent. "You too can accomplish whatever you set your mind to. You too can overcome whatever circumstances you may face in life. Whatever you can conceive and believe, you can achieve."