April 2019 Student Spotlight: Abel Banti

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MCC ESOL student Abel Banti

Abel Banti immigrated to the United States from Ethiopia 5 years ago. He lives in Rochester with his mother and plans to study Radiologic Technology at MCC. In his story, “Sunday Afternoon,” Abel illustrates the opposing forces of good and evil that coexist in any given community.

Sunday Afternoon

It was Sunday afternoon, very sunny and hot. I didn’t feel good about being outside. “Abel, get up. Time to go to work,” said my aunt. I checked my watch and it said 1:45 pm.

“Come on! I got plenty of time. I don’t want to get there early and stand like a security guard. It’s weird,” I tried to convince her to stay at least half an hour in the house.

“No, Abel you know I have an appointment today. I can’t drop you. You got to take a bus.”

“A bus!?” I asked loudly. She knew how much I hate taking a bus.

“Why do you sound like someone told you are about to get deported?” she asked and smiled. I got up from my bed to get ready even though I didn’t feel good to go to work.

I went to a bus a station that was nearby our house. I was surprised to see nobody around. During the week I knew the road was crowded with high traffic, but today on a Sunday afternoon unexpectedly it was quiet. I felt like I was the only human left. I sat on a passenger waiting chair. I picked up the brochure to checkup what time the bus was coming. The next bus was coming at 2:45 pm. I checked my time; 30 minutes were left for the bus to come. I heard people laughing and talking. There were three teenagers. As soon as they saw me, they whispered to each other. I felt like something bad was about to happen. They came close to me and stood next to me.

“Do you know us?” the guy with long hair asked me.

“N…o I d…ont,” I answered with a scared tone.

“Where do you live?” asked the other guy.

“Here in Portland Avenue,” I answered. I didn’t feel comfortable talking to them. So, I picked up my lunch box to move away from them. Suddenly they jumped to where I was sitting and started punching me. I screamed “Help! Help! Help!” They took advantage of that quiet Sunday. When the two of them were punching me, the other guy got to my pocket and took my wallet and phone. “I got it, I got it,” said the guy after he pulled my wallet. They stopped punching me and they ran away. Within seconds they vanished. More than the sudden attack and losing my phone and my money, I was madder and sadder from losing my green card that was in my wallet.

The next day my aunt and I went to search for my wallet. We assumed they might have thrown it away after they took the money. It was the unlikely probability to get it back, but we went to find it. I directed my aunt the way the thieves ran away. We started searching. Suddenly one guy who was walking came to us and said, “Are you looking for a wallet?”

I was shocked. “Yes! How did you know? Did you see it?” I asked him.

“Calm down brother,” he smiled and continued, “Yesterday I was walking by here and I found a wallet.”

“Did you see a green card in it?” my aunt asked.

“Yes, I did see a green card. That’s how I knew you guys are looking for a wallet because he looks like the same as the picture.” My aunt and I smiled.

“So, do you have the wallet with you?” I asked.

“I gave it to the bank,” he pointed to the Bank of America that was in front of us. We thanked the guy and went to the bank, and we got my wallet back.

It’s sad to me that some people feel justified in robbing others. There are so many ways to earn money honestly, even if you have to create them yourself. I also learned that there are good and bad people. If it wasn’t for the guy who returned my wallet, I would have been in big trouble. It would have been hard for me to replace my green card easily. This experience taught me to give more attention to where I go. Also, I learned to keep all important stuff, such as a green card, passport and credit card, in the house.


ESOL Voices is a collection of stories written by ESOL students at Monroe Community College. This publication highlights our MCC students who come from all over the world. Look for a new story each month. We hope you enjoy our students’ stories as much as we do.

— Katie Leite, Pamela Fornieri & Bridget Dee, ESOL Program, April/May 2019