Though my parents had to leave most of their family behind to provide for us, they have done it without second-guessing. My brother was eight and I was six when we ventured out into an unknown path with our mother to our better future. After we arrived from El Salvador, my father tried everything to make us feel at home. His efforts, at the time, were not enough. I missed my family, friends, my home, but most importantly my freedom.
BACKGROUND/INFLUENCES/CONTRIBUTORY RELATIONSHIPS During my first year in college, I did not foresee the barriers I would face being a first-generation Latina college student and not having a family member to ask for guidance in navigating my college education. Before attending college, I was aware that once I graduated from high school I would need to work and help my family financially because the occupation that my father held, selling ice cream in a truck, was not stable. Growing up in East Los Angeles and attending James A. Garfield High School, an overcrowded and poorly funded school, made it difficult to navigate my education. My knowledge about higher education was limited by the minimal interactions I had with counselors at my high
When I lived in Mexico, every single member of my family was interested to know how was our day in school, work, etc. It was one of my favorite parts of having family time because I felt that my family was interested in what was going on with me. Additionally, every time we have a conversation I felt free because I did not have to carry with me what happened to me during the day. In fact, sometimes we talked about simple things, like people, places, including dreams. However, since we moved to Chicago, we have been losing communication because everyone is busy to have a little time to talk about our day.
Both of her parents migrated from Mexico to the United States. She was then raised in El Paso, Texas. As a child, she began kindergarten where she spoke the only language she knew, which was Spanish. She soon discovered that her language only brought her trouble from her teachers and administrators. Being
She protests, “[y]ou never used to judge people like this at home.” Ronny announces that “India isn’t home” and relies on “phrases and arguments that he had picked up from older officials, and he did not feel quite sure of himself” to silence his mother and convince her of his adopted new logic (p.54). Adela, too, notices the change in Ronny. “India had developed sides of his character that she had never admired. His self-complacency, his censoriousness, his lack of subtlety” (p.96, my italics). The colony changes the personality of the coloniser in almost every aspect, even aesthetic appreciation.
The reason I did get things that I wanted is not for any good reason, but because I am the middle child. Being the middle child is also hard because you never get any attention, and even when I do get attention, I am getting it for all the wrong reasons. I am not getting all of the attention because I am the favorite like my sisters are. I may get attention from my mom, but only because she feels bad because she thinks I might have the “middle child syndrome.” Although events like these happen everyday of my life it does not affect my life as much as some would think. I have learned to deal with the fact that I will never be the favorite, I will never get the same amount of attention as my two other sisters, and I will never just be treated the way I want like my younger sister.
"How do you think the judge is going to react when you tell them you can't make it to court because you have a headache?" 17 years ago, I was a student at Westmount Elementary when my sixth grade teacher asked me this question. It caught me off guard, but I remember feeling flattered that he saw my potential. And although his sincerity was inspiring, perhaps the most important takeaway from this moment was the fact that it was the first time in my life I had actually thought of myself as a lawyer. At 12 years of age, I hadn't yet given much thought to what I wanted to be when I grew up.
As soon as I can, I proceed to help the incoming children feel at home in school. Even though it’s the first day for all of us, to me, it feels different. School gives me an air of confidence and familiarity that I don’t feel anywhere else, a feeling that has followed me through every school I’ve been in. From this moment on, school becomes my haven, the place I turn to when I feel lost or need a reminder of how far I’ve come. I spend the next four years making my way up through preschool.
Culture There are three cultures that I was introduced to since I was a child. Those were Indonesian, Chinese and also German. Since I was born and raised in Indonesia, I was exposed to Indonesian culture through my schools and daily lifestyle. Living in Indonesia has been quite unpredictable since the country itself was not stable. When I was born, it was in the midst of the great riots against the dictatorship of the Indonesian government (APSN, n.a.).
We have been married for four years and have a two-year-old son together as well as a nine-year-old daughter that I have from a previous relationship. My daughter has indicated that students in her class have asked her if she was adopted after seeing her with my husband. My husband and I have gotten stares and ugly remarks made towards us. I worry about my son growing up biracial because I have seen first-hand how cruel individuals can be. As a future school counselor, I believe that it us extremely important to integrate diversity into our schools to aid the younger generation in being accepting and respectful of all cultures.