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A personal circumstances that has affected my achievement at school is the fact that my parents didn't finish high school. Knowing this, it has made me want to achieve higher in my education than anybody in my family has.
My family and I are originally from Uruguay. When my parents were young, there wasn't really a appreciation placed upon education where they grew up. Most students dropped out and started working to help contribute in payments for the bills. That was the case with my parents; my mother dropped out in 9th grade and my dad in 10th grade to support their families. Arise from that, it made me value the efforts they did to come to this country so I could attain a better education. Ever since I was little, my parents would remind
My father, like many Asian immigrants, left India to pursue his educational goals in America in order to provide a better life for his family. He arrived in the U.S. with fourteen dollars in his coat pocket, a suitcase in his hands, and a will to succeed. For my father, in a place like America where opportunities were plentiful and where hard work actually paid off there was no excuse not to succeed. The practical translation of this belief meant that if his children worked hard in school there was nothing they too could not achieve. As such, in my father's household, not doing well in school was not an option.
Growing up, the biggest challenge I faced was being a first generation Latina student. My family came from an extremely rural neighborhood in Guanajuato, Mexico called La Sandia. Both my parents achieved up to 5th-grade education in their hometowns. They decided to sacrifice their lives in Mexico to provide a better life for their family and then decided to migrate to the U.S to achieve what many people consider the American dream.
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.
I was raised in an encouraging household where both of my parents greatly valued education. Although they were high school graduates, neither could afford to attend college; a combination of family and financial woes ultimately halted their path. As a result, my parents frequently reminded me that getting a good education meant better opportunities for my future. To my parents, that seemed to be the overarching goal: a better life for me than the one they had. My parents wanted me to excel and supported me financially and emotionally of which the former was something their parents were not able to provide. Their desire to facilitate a change in my destiny is one of many essential events that contributed to my world view.
I come from a low income family with no background. My parents do not speak English. When we first moved to America, I had to teach myself English and then teach it to my parents. It is agonizing and heartbreaking to see how hard my parents work for my siblings and I. As immigrants, they work day and night in order to provide us with a better education and life. My mom leaves for work at 4 am and comes back at 7pm. My dad leaves at 5 am and comes back at 8 pm. Ever since my sister and I were young, we had to act like adults. We did all the chores, study, cook and more. My parents sacrificed a lot for me, just so I would have a taste of success that they never...
Regretfully, when I entered high school I did not realize how hard I had to work to get what I wanted. I went to my classes, did my work, but never really pushed myself to my full abilities. I thought that as long as I graduated with decent grades I would be able to get into college and really focus then. But as high school quickly came to an end I realized that I was not as well prepared for college, as I would have liked.
Because my family struggled financially, we were evicted from many homes and were dependent on government aid for a large part of my childhood. I saw the opportunities my parents lost because they did not have high school diplomas, let alone a college degree. I knew that obtaining a college diploma would help me move up in status. Because of my experiences in society as someone who was poor, I was motivated to create a better life for
In my household, from the time I was in Kindergarten, my mother expected academic excellence and nothing less. With her help I was an A student, Science fair grand champion, Young authors winner, Community helpers member, Young academic role model and more. At the age of eleven I lost my mother to Invasive Breast Cancer. Being academically successful was her goal for me and up to that point in her life she instilled the values of education and hard work ethic into me. At that young age I had to decide how I was going to continue being academically successful in school and what were my educational goals for myself. Since that day every school year I ask myself that same question,and this year being my senior year it’s more prominent than ever. My short term educational goals are: to apply and be admitted to 4 universities, maintain a 3.7 gpa, pass AP calc and English exam’s with a score of 4 or higher, and graduate with honors.
When my mother arrived in Paterson, she hated it and thought it was so ugly and even cried to go back to Mexico. After six months my mother was able to go back to Mexico to get her green card, which showed that she was a legal citizen of America. My mother’s main priority was about making sure to go to school and get an education. She was able to go to Kennedy High School but hated it since she only spoke Spanish and couldn’t understand anything. The only thing she was able to truly excel in was in Mathematics which she really loved. She was able to have classes taught to her in Spanish as she got accustomed to English. For my mother, learning English was the hardest thing she ever had to and it was very stressful for her learning English in high school. When my mother came to America she had dreamed of having a better life, becoming a teacher, being able to study, be reunited with her parents but she realized she wouldn’t be able to have that dream
When I was born, my family had just migrated to California from Mexico. In a new country, my father worked in landscaping earning less than $4 dollars an hour, while my mother relied on public transportation to take her newborn child to and from doctor visits. In the land of opportunity, my family struggled to put a roof over our heads. But never discouraged, my parents sought to achieve their goals and worked tirelessly to raise my younger brother and I. From a young age, I was taught the importance of education; this became a major catalyst in my life. My desire to excel academically was not for self-gain, but my way of contributing to my family’s goals and aspirations.
In terms of experience, a critical life event was when I was diagnosed with a non-verbal learning disability in the 3rd grade. At any age, no one likes to hear that they are incompetent or different when compared to others. Wanting to be an equal to my “regular” classmates, I worked harder than most of them to achieve academic success, so I could be streamlined into “regular’ education classes. Even though most teachers and school psychologists were supportive, some did not think I could be streamlined. Before I attended college, I had to go for yet another evaluation with a psychologist, who told me that I was “setting my sights too high” by attending Drexel. Given my success at Drexel thus far, I would like to say that he was dead wrong in his assessment of my abilities. Luckily, I had parents that fought for my rights throughout my entire education, and they never gave up on the notion that I could be a great student
My High School life has helped shape the way for my college experiences that I will face. My senior year in high school is not the same as many other high school students. I am taking many advanced classes to help me prepare for college. These classes help me better understand exactly how much harder I must work to succeed.
One experience that I will always remember is the day I was running errands and had the opportunity to meet a very special patient. She was a sweet woman who was originally from Mexico. We were having a friendly conversation when she asked me about why I chose to do community service at the hospital. I explained to her that I planned on majoring in the medical field one day and I was working on obtaining community service hours. We got to talking about the education systems in our countries. In our conversation I learned that only selected people were given the opportunity to receive an education in her native country of Mexico. She told me about the poor education system and the extreme poverty which debilitates Mexico. As a United States citizen, I am provided with a variety of options for education. People in Mexico must fight to obtain access to any education. This made me realize how truly fortunate I am.
I always feel the obligation in doing my best in many things in life. Accompanied by this outlook, I am pleased to say that I have had a good amount of success in my academic achievements. However, not every subject in school has not been easy for me. Math and Science have created many difficulties and challenges for me.
There were many instances in my life that have shaped my values, intellect, and academic or career goals. I was raised by my parents to become a hard worker, independent, and caring young adult. I was taught how to be all these qualities by a combination of experiencing and witnessing them first hand.