Hispanic, Worker, Student, Mother
I am the only girl and middle child in a family of five siblings. As is common in Hispanic culture, my status was automatically placed below that of my brothers by virtue of my gender alone. Even as a teenager, I was not allowed to go out to movies alone with my friends; my younger brother was sent to keep an eye on me and report back to my mother. Needless to say, I was also not permitted to date in high school. At that time, without the social life afforded to other girls my age, I turned to academics.
Captivated by muckrakers, yellow journalism, and the sheer power of the printed word, I discovered through journalism my love for writing. The idea of writing something that would get the attention of my teenage peers, or anyone for that matter, appealed to me. In one column I wrote about gang activity at my high school. I argued for tougher disciplinary measures for gang members and against ineffective administrative procedures in dealing with gangs. However, one did not disrespect gangs in the school paper and expect it to go unnoticed. While my adviser feared for my safety, he agreed to run the column anyway. The day it ran, I walked into school with my head held high and prepared for the worst, but it never came. Instead I got people talking; talking about changes. I had succeeded in what I had intended for my writing. My senior year I became a correspondent for the El Paso Herald Post and earned an internship for the summer after graduation. Although I served as more of a gopher than a writer, no task was too small. I loved the opportunity to hang around the newsroom and witness seasoned veterans at work.
When summer ended I was terrified at the prospect ...
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...e I had loved in academics. I needed to do more for my daughter and myself. In the summer of 1996, 1 walked off the job and back into the classroom.
Unlike the scared, sheltered girl fresh out of high school, I was now a single mother, a little older but far wiser. While I had longed for my mother's approval when I began college, I now had the admiration of my daughter. As her role model, I'm obligated not merely to teach her about responsibility but also to show her what is right through my actions. I have balanced academics, a child, a household, and a job (sometimes two jobs) every semester while continuing to have my writings published and making the best grades of my academic career. The decisions to keep my daughter and to raise her alone could have devastated my academic career, but instead they made me into a strong, dedicated, and balanced person.
I was born into a traditional Hispanic family in Puerto Rico, a territory of the United States. This conventional family pattern follows a patriarchal hierarchy in which the father is the head of the household and responsible for all major decisions for the family.
John Peter Zenger committed libel in a newspaper, stating blunt truths about the government’s faults. William Cosby didn’t like this at all, so he had him tried. The verdict was made quickly: not guilty. The case became vital to the lives of the American colonies by giving them the First Amendment: Freedom of the Press. It had a large impact on the lives of the citizens by allowing them to say whatever they wanted about the government in a newspaper or other form of public writing. John Peter Zenger is now known today for giving us this freedom.
John smith, the accused, stood up in the courtroom and started yelling at the judge about what he thought of his innocence irrespective of the decision that the judge would make. He also cursed the prosecutor and kept quiet when his lawyer warned him of the negative consequences that would follow if he continued with the same behavior. Smith did not answer any question that the judge asked him. The prosecutor indicated that he had observed similar behavior when he interviewed him, in jail.
Cutright, Marc. "From Helicopter Parent to Valued Partner: Shaping the Parental Relationship for Student Success." New Directions for Higher Education Winter 2008: 39-48. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection. Web. 11 Nov. 2013.
The topic of Hispanic women experiencing inequality in education due to the social constructs of subordination and Hispanic culture is of interest to me because I am Hispanic and have fallen victim to the social constructs of subordination of women, within the Hispanic culture and educations system. Living in Chandler, Arizona during my adolescent years allowed me to experience two forms of education, public and private schooling. In Arizona, Charter schools are as common as public schools in California. Charter schools similar to Private...
Sexism is the ideology that maintains that one sex is inherently inferior to the other. Sexism or discrimination based on gender has been a social issue for many years; it is the ideology that one sex is superior or inferior to the other. Sexism does not only affect females, but also males. Men are very often victimized by social stereotypes and norms based on gender expectations. Sexism has appears in almost all social institutions including family, the media, religion, sports, the military, politics, and the government. However, although both genders are affected, men have benefited from sexism the most (Thompson 300-301.)
For this assignment I interviewed my sister, who is a 48 year-old female that has only 1 child. My sister is a prior member of the armed services. She became a single parent at the age of 27, after her military career. As, she adjusted to the role of motherhood she had to endured several traumatic situations within her personal and professional life but most of all within her parental life. In being a single mother, she stated that she had a lot of regrets and alterations that she wished were in place prior to her becoming a parent. The most prevalent of which is that of having a spouse that supports and encourages her. Since, she was without the support of the father of her child, she was forced to make ends meet on her own. This struggle
Growing up everyone has certain roles to perform; gradually your roles can change once you are freely able to express yourself without any restrictions. Unfortunately just like thousands of other women in the world at the time, the women of Mexico were limited and had role in which they followed. A challenge Mexican women had during their early times was that, “no unmarried women under thirty could legally leave her parental home” (Soto, 10). This limited women to their own individuality as they were force to stay home and take care of their parents since there was no husband to tender for. Every women wanted to get married so that they can grow older a...
Growing up in a Mexican household where education isn’t a priority or important has been one of my major obstacles that I’ve had to overcome. Although my family’s culture believes that education isn’t necessary their experiences and lifestyles have influence and motivate my choices for my future. I come from a home where I have no role model or someone influential. I have no one to ask for advice for college or anything involve in school. In most homes, older siblings help their younger siblings with their homework or projects but in my house no one was able to provide me with any help. I grew up to be independent and to do anything school related on my own. My parents are both immigrants who didn’t get to finish elementary
Three years ago my life drastically changed when my husband of 19 years decided he wanted a divorce. I had always been a wife and a mother and only worked part time through the majority of my marriage. Having married at 19, I never thought too much about going to college. I always thought I wanted to be a stay at home mom and never thought too much about what my life would be like once the children grew into adulthood. Now, at 41 years old, I realize how horrible a decision I made by not getting my college education sooner. Trying to go back to school while working full-time and raising two kids on my own is not fun. It’s a struggle to find that right balance of being a good student but also being a good mom. I want to make my kids proud
On Bloodsworth’s appeal he argued several points. First he argued that there was not sufficient evidence to tie Bloodsworth to the crime. The courts ruled that the ruling stand on the grounds that the witness evidence was enough for reasonable doubt that the c...
Haleman, Diana. "Great expectations: single mothers in higher education." International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education (QSE) 17.6 (2004): 769-784. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 9 Mar. 2011.
The struggles Cecelia faced as a single mother working to complete a degree and support herself and her son did strike a familiar tone with me. Although I did raise my daughter as a single mother in California for almost six years, unlike Cecelia I was well employed, had completed my bachelor’s degree, and was in my thirties. Even so I also struggled more than occasionally with bias against my status as a single mother, albeit a successful professional, and the unanticipated ways this affected my daughter. There were clear biases evinced by teachers, child care workers, doctors, childless friends and coworkers, who all believed that they had not only the right to judge my d...
Journalism has a particularly interesting influence on crime and the justice system, which first began in the early to mid 1800’s (Feldstein). Urbanization had a big impact on the development of journalism, as it allowed for the wide distribution of newspapers. However, the penny press essentially created the ethical issues concerning serial killers and media contact (Feldstein). The penny press first started in 1833 with Day’s launch of The New York Sun. Because the newspaper cost one cent instead of six, it targeted an entirely different au...
Back in the day, a family consisted of a staying home wife that took care of the children and any necessary obligations in the house while the husband worked all day. Today, it is very unique for a child to be raised in a home where one parent is not involved with the family. Therefore, society’s perspective on a child raised by a single-parent, especially by moms is seen as inappropriate due to the fact, that they don’t do see the child capable of doing the same things as a child that lives with both parents in a traditional family. Even though, the child is raised by a single-mother it does not mean they will not be as successful as a child that is raised by both parents. Currently, there are many single-mothers that demonstrate each day