Sheriff gets through hardships by focusing on his goal

Senior+Allieu+Sheriff+passing+the+ball+forward+for+the+boys+soccer+team.

Carson Fayard

Senior Allieu Sheriff passing the ball forward for the boys’ soccer team.

TOWAMENCIN – Have you ever sat down with your parents and talked about the day you were born, or your first birthday party? Most of us are fortunate enough to hear stories about our childhoods, but senior Allieu Sheriff doesn’t know much of anything that happened in his childhood.

Sheriff, the youngest of eight siblings, was born in Liberia. Because of the ongoing civil war, Sheriff and his siblings were separated from their parents. He came to the U.S. at age six with his siblings, but doesn’t know how he arrived to the U.S.

“I wish knew a little bit more about my parents and my family, but I don’t really regret anything. I always thought what was best for me so I just went with that,” Sheriff said.

Sherriff first started living in Souderton, and he went to elementary school there. Musa, Sheriff’s older brother and a North Penn graduate, also attended school in the Souderton district. Eventually, the two brothers learned English and adapted to the culture in America. Sheriff then moved to Hatfield to reunite with his other siblings after living separately.

“I didn’t really think much of it, but I still kept in contact with them and still talked to them, so it wasn’t really that much of a separation,” Sheriff said.

His new family made the situation easy on him as well.

“They’ve had a really big impact on my life because they helped me get through schoolwork and treated me like one of their sons, so that’s really nice,” Sheriff said.

He moved one more time, this time to Lansdale, before finally settling in to the place he calls home. Sheriff played soccer back in Liberia, but during his time in the U.S., he started playing organized soccer, which he grew to enjoy and became pretty good at.

“I went out for the soccer team, which had an impact on my life because I started making friends and got close with the soccer people, and just had a bond with them. They kinda helped me stay focused on my grades and stuff. The soccer team is good people around me and I have good friends and make better choices. I just continued playing soccer, working harder, progressing on my grades, and thinking about what I want to be in the future. [Soccer] is just something I like to do and I’m passionate about it so it helped shape me as a better person,” Sheriff said.

Sheriff is busy man after 2:12.  Besides being on the soccer team, Sheriff has a job at Royal Farms while also making time for his hobbies like playing 2K, golfing, playing basketball, and fishing. In other words, Sheriff is enjoying life as a normal teenager.

“I got to be a kid but I missed out on a lot of things normal kids do.  I think my life was hard at first, but it got so much better,” Sheriff said.

Sheriff has been through a lot and offered a very straightforward tip those going through hardships in their lives.

“You just gotta want to be successful. You can’t just let one thing in your path break you apart,” Sheriff said.

Sheriff plans on going to Montgomery County Community College for at least a year and then possibly transferring to a bigger university as he studies to work in advertising. Sheriff has come a long way from a six-year old separated from his parents to a soon-to-be North Penn graduate.

“With all the obstacles life gave me, I just found a way to overcome it and tried to focus on the main goal I really wanna achieve, which is just to be rich and successful,” Sheriff said.