Back to School
Coming back to school was not something I was planning to do. It would pop into my head now and then, but I never really intended to follow through with it. However, now that I am back in school, it has changed my goals in my life, not only for me but also for my children. I want to be a positive role model. I would like to be someone they could look up to and be proud of. As for me, my role model was my grandfather, I always looked up to him and he has never let me down.
I grew up on the Navajo reservation, without running water and electricity. We used oil lanterns at night to light up the house. It was not bright, but it was enough to light our little Hogan. We had to travel about three miles to get water in a huge twenty-five gallon water barrels. When I was younger, my parents did not raise me, which is often common among my Navajo tribe. My grandparents, who believed in our traditional ceremonial ways, raised me. My grandfather, when he was alive, was a Navajo Shaman. A Shaman is a medicine man (a healer). I can recall when we used to go to different places on the Navajo Reservation. My grandfather would perform ceremonies to heal the sick. He taught me to always keep my head held high, so I would not miss anything. He taught me the value of taking care of our livestock. Selling cows and sheep were our main source of income and food back when I was younger. He taught me that nothing comes to us, unless we work hard for it. When he did perform ceremonies, depending on how serious it was, he would accept some livestock jewelry, Navajo wedding baskets, money, and if it was more serious, he would accept some livestock. He has taught me not to take anything for granted, and that we cou...
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... place I was raised and start on the right path. I am now teaching my children what my grandfather has taught me. My older son knows how it is living on the reservation; once in a while we go back to my aunt’s house. He realizes the hard work that needs to be done, such as feeding the sheep, the horses, going to get woods, chopping woods, bringing it in to start a fire, so it could keep the house warm, bringing in water and so much more. I try to make him understand my culture of living on the reservation, and also living in town.
I believe I owe it to my grandparents who have taught me how to live, and be myself and not be someone I cannot be. I know my grandfather would be proud of me. With the education I receive, he would want me to go back to the reservation, and encourage my people to further their education, without losing their Native culture.
I decided at that moment that I would return to school and graduate with my bachelor?s degree. I made a promise to myself that I would finish my education. If I complete my education, I would make my parents proud of me. Plus, I want to be the first person on either side of my family to attend graduate school. Adults return to college primarily because they desire a higher paying career or a professional job. This could be a registered nurse, an elementary school teacher, a policeman or an attorney. It could also be an accountant, a journalist, a librarian, an interior decorator or a beautician (Smith, 2001).
There is probably no one, among people, who has not considered death as a subject to think about or the events, people, and spirits that they would face after death. Also, since we were little kids we were asking our parents what death is and what is going to happen after we die. People have always linked death with fear, darkness, depression, and other negative feelings but not with Emily Dickinson, who was a reclusive poet from Massachusetts who was obsessed with death and dying in her tons of writings. She writes “Because I could not stop for Death” and in this particular poem she delivers a really different idea of death and the life after death. In the purpose of doing that, the speaker encounters death which was personalized to be in a form of gentleman suitor who comes to pick her up with his horse-drawn carriage for a unique death date that will last forever. In fact, she seems completely at ease with the gentleman. Additionally, their journey at the beginning seems pretty peaceful; as they pass through the town, she sees normal events such as children who are playing, fields of grain, and a sunset. After this, dusk takes place and the speakers gets chilly because she was not ready for this journey and she did not wear clothes that would make her feel warm. Consequently, readers get the idea that death is not a choice, so when it comes, that is it. Emily Dickinson, in her poem “Because I could not stop for Death,” uses personification, imagery, and style to deliver her positive and peaceful idea of death and life after death.
In our day and age where our youth are becoming more aware of the history of the country and the people who inhabit it, the culture of Native Americans has become more accessible and sparks an interest in many people young and old. Recent events, like the Dakota Access Pipeline, grab the attention of people, both protesters and supporters, as the Sioux tribe and their allies refuse to stay quiet and fight to protect their land and their water. Many Native people are unashamed of their heritage, proud of their culture and their ancestors. There is pride in being Native, and their connection with their culture may be just as important today as it was in the 1800’s and before, proving that the boarding school’s ultimate goal of complete Native assimilation to western culture has
I, however, have had everything handed to me on a silver platter. Everything from my citizenship to my car, comes from the sacrifices my parents have made. The pressure on first generation children of immigrants to prove you were worth your parents' sacrifice stays with you your entire life. In order to give back to my parents, I plan on getting into a good college and finding a career that will provide comfort for both my parents and myself. I also plan on keeping my cultural identity and sharing my heritage with the next generation.
The Native American Reservation system was a complete failure. This paper focuses on the topics of relocation, Native American boarding schools, current conditions on today’s reservations, and what effects these have had on the Native American way of life.
Frances Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, is written in the 1920’s setting and focuses on the American Dream. Gatsby, the protagonist, strives to make his American Dream, the achievement of wealth, social status, and family a reality but fails by paying the ultimate sacrifice—his life. Today, many people believe in coming to America to pursue the American Dream, yet they do not realize they are pursuing an inexistent achievement. People pay a high price as well because they spend so much of their lives working on achieving their dream and when they fail, it is as if they wasted their entire life. Similar to Gatsby’s efforts, today’s society defines the American Dream in the same way as Gatsby, causing people to sacrifice their morals, friendships, and lives in their journey towards this unattainable dream.
Sandefur, G. (n.d.). American Indian reservations: The first underclass areas? Retrieved April 28, 2014, from http://www.irp.wisc.edu/publications/focus/pdfs/foc121f.pdf
When a native author Greg Sams said that the reservations are just “red ghettos”, the author David disagree with that. He thinks there must be something else beyond that point. After his grandfather died, he somehow changed his mind. Because he could not think anything e...
Since the early colonization of America, the American dream has been the ultimate symbol for success. In retrospect, the dreamer desires to become wealthy, while also attaining love and high class. Though the dream has had different meanings in time, it is still based on individual freedom, and a desire for greatness. During the 19th century, the typical goal was to settle in the West and raise a family. However, the dream progressively transformed into greediness and materialism during the early 20th century. The indication of success soon became focused on wealth and luxury. The Great Gatsby is a story focused on the deterioration of the American dream. Throughout the novel, Jay Gatsby is shown with a desire to achieve his dream by all means. Utilizing the Roaring Twenties as part of his satire, Fitzgerald criticizes the values of the American dream, and the effects of materialism on one’s dream.
...ltimate love affair with Death. In the final lines of this poem Dickinson states, “I first surmised the Horses' Heads, Were toward Eternity.” These final lines bring the poem full circle in the way they return the reader back to the first stanza, when Death shows up with his carriage. The horses drew the carriage that takes the speaker to the eternal life, she alluded to within the first lines.
Imagery is a big component to most works of poetry. Authors strive to achieve a certain image for the reader to paint in their mind. Dickinson tries to paint a picture of ?death? in her own words. Thomas A. Johnson, an interpretive author of Dickinson's work, says that ?In 1863 Death came into full statue as a person. ?Because I could not stop for Death? is a superlative achievement wherein Death becomes one of the greatest characters of literature? (Johnson). Dickinson's picture to the audience is created by making ?Death? an actual character in the poem. By her constantly calling death either ?his? or ?he,? she denotes a specific person and gender. Dickinson also compares ?Death? to having the same human qualities as the other character in the poem. She has ?Death? physically arriving and taking the other character in the carriage with him. In the poem, Dickinson shows the reader her interpretation of what this person is going through as they are dying and being taken away by ?Death?. Dickinson gives images such as ?The Dews drew quivering and chill --? and ?A Swelling of the Ground --? (14, 18). In both of these lines, Dickinson has the reader conjure up subtle images of death. The ?quivering an chill? brings to the reader's mind of death being ...
I hope to be able to instill these values in my son as he grows up to make his own choices. In choosing to return to school after eleven years I hope to improve my own: intellectual wellness by challenging my mind, my emotional wellness by bettering myself, and interpersonal wellness by improving my relationships with the people closest to me. The support from my family and friends has been invaluable in my returning to school. I feel that by making these positive changes I am setting a good example for my son.
I had to mature quickly and learn how to take care of someone else besides myself. I am now a mother to four children. They have taught me how to have patience. This has become something I value very much. I have learned that in life you must wait for things. I now know that there was a reason why I had my son so early and wasn’t able to go to college upon graduating high school. I am so thankful that I had patience and waited for the right time to enter. It has been 14 years since I graduated high school, and I’m attending college and know exactly what I want to become. I had patience and took care of my babies at home before I decided to go to school. It hasn’t always been easy, but I’m so glad I
Many people fear death due to the fact that they will leave their loved ones and descent from the face of the earth, however, Dickinson did not show any signs of fear while talking and writing about death. “A close reading of Dickinson’s poems indicates that the best of her poems revolve round the theme of death” (Antony & Dewan 2). Many of Dickinson’s poems have the central theme of death, as to no one know why, however, it is proclaimed welcoming. One of Dickinson’s famous poems “Because I could not stop for Death” displays how death can occur so naturally, and it could be a gentleman who takes you to your final destination. Dickinson’s talk about death in the story could be viewed as a prince charming or a gentleman who has arrived at the doorstep with a
My educational journey has been like a roller coaster. I have been in the worst spot of my life time. Where I hate going to school but, also think about my father education. My career goal is one of my most important in my life to better myself than I am today tomorrow I will better than yesterdays.