A First Generation Salvadoran American Student 's Pursues Higher Education

Unfortunately, students of other cultures are faced with physical consequences for failure to completely adopt with American culture. Conde highlighted some Cuban children’s desire to escape the educational setting. Having experienced painful physical reprimands and comments from teachers for refusing Americanization, many students complied while others were determined to hold onto their culture and language (Conde, p. 126).

Growing up in a Hispanic household has shaped and built my values in life. At Appleton North High School, I am one out of the few Hispanic students. Knowing that my parents have migrated to America to give me a better future has motivated me to make it happen. Although, as a Mexican-American, I have felt out of place as a minority. However, with time I learned to accept my cultural differences. In fact, to this day, I thank my widowed father for the sacrifices and greater opportunities he has given me. My goal is to keep representing the few Hispanic students in college by working hard to achieve my career goals; not all Hispanics are fortunate enough to attend college. I also work to inspire young Hispanics to find their potential and follow

Dreams are shaped by ideals and families shape the beliefs we grasp strongly. The sacrifices and struggles of my family and I are what have shaped me to be the person I am today, therefore i have dedicated my path as a first generation Hispanic student to my family.

By spending a month in Pachuca, Mexico, with the Lott Institute, I hope to learn more about the Mexican culture and people. By being afforded such an opportunity, I will be better equipped to do political work, as US relations with Mexico have become a more serious issue recently. My desire in working in politics is to bring common-sense solutions to communities to make life better for all Americans, including recent immigrants. As such, I have taken particular interest in Mexican culture, which is growing locally and across the country. Following this interest, I studied Spanish in college, and wish to become fluent in it; by studying in Mexico where I can be immersed in the Spanish language, I should be able to become more familiar with it. Through studying in Mexico, I will be able to receive a broader and more accurate perspective on issues that those of Mexican heritage, and therefore the community that I wish to

In this short film titled IMMERSION, Moises, an immigrant child with less than proficient English language skills, is seen in a real world context as he struggles with academics, specifically math, in a public school setting in the U. S. The “structured English Immersion” program, which is in place to assist children like Moises falls short of providing the supprts necessary for immigrant students to master a second language while they are also expected to build on academic skills. In this film, school leadership has failed to recognize and back one teacher’s pursuit of providing supports to ascertain whether the student is able to complete the assignment in his naïve language or does he not understand the concepts. Even after advocating for himself and asking for the test in Spanish the young boy is told not to worry as the test is not important. Unfortunately, Moises knows the test is significant and is then faced with a no win situation at school.

This paper will try to explain the variety of hardships many Mexican-American students endure in hopes to gain a higher education. Many are driven by the “American Dream”, which is the idea that individuals living in the U.S. have the equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and abilities. The American Dream often motivates foreigners to enter the United States illegally, hoping for that “equal opportunity” to success. However, not everyone living in the U.S. has equal opportunities, compared to native-born American citizens. This is why it can be difficult for Mexican-American students to attend colleges and universities. A higher education is difficult to obtain for Mexican-American students because of their low socioeconomic status, their differing cultural and structural characteristics, and the social and political institutions in our current society. Although this paper does not focus on the educational opportunities in Mexico, this paper will mostly focus on the educational system in the United States, particularly California State University, San Bernardino. In addition, this paper will refer to Mexican-American students as first-generation college students.

I am a U.S. born citizen. My parents moved to the United States in 1984 without knowing anything about this country. Looking for a fresh start and new opportunities, my parents settled in Houston. With hardly knowing any English, my parents knew this was the place to make dreams become a reality. Luckily, I had older siblings to look up to whenever I needed help. Like Lahiri, I was trapped in between two different cultures while I was growing up. At home, I only spoke Spanish, but in school it was English. My habits and customs were different than others. Life as an immigrant’s offspring can be very difficult. As I grew older, I allowed myself to open my eyes and see the beauty of being an American from Hispanic descent.

According to Huntington, unlike previous immigrants, Hispanics wish to retain a dual culture. This presents them with the culture clash of two varying views on culture as well as education. There are several factors that have made this culture of immigrants assimilations’ so much different than the past immigrants that America has so fondly welcomed with open arms. These include contiguity, scale illegality regional concentration, persistence and historical presence.

The United States is a country of immigrants. It started from the English migrating to America in the 1600s and calling it home, and throughout time immigration has continued. The United States has been described as a melting pot and there is a lot of truth to that. Before the immigration was majorly from Europe, but now the majority of immigration comes from the Latin Countries. It is said that Latinos are the largest growing minority in the United States making them a big part of the country. But there is a problem, the Hispanic students in the education system of the United States have a lower participation in education, and this research project is to try to determine some of the reasons for this problem.

Growing up as a first-generation college-bound Hispanic woman has proven to be a difficult journey. Both of my parents left their home countries at a young age and came to this country without any ideas or real opportunities on where to begin. At a young age, I have been taught that having a higher education is the key to having a successful and plentiful life. However, the journey towards achieving my dream of receiving a higher education has been filled with moments where I have challenged the stereotypes about getting pregnant and dropping out of high school, facing my grandma’s unexpected illness that affected me both academically and mentally, and the challenge of being a first generation college bound student in my family.

Latino immigrants have always had many obstacles when coming into the United States, the difference between the American and the Latin cultures is what has caused a huge hurdle that immigrants have found hard to overpass. This obstacle has caused many generations to go through cultural assimilation. Mize et al. (2012) explain that cultural assimilation is the adaptation of immigrants to unfamiliar cultural patterns, which include language and the value systems of other cultures. In order for immigrants to be successful in another country, which is not of their origin; they need to learn how to assimilate to their new homes. Immigrants have learned that they need to adapt in order to get to experience new opportunities and also to learn from new cultures that are not theirs (Mize et al., 2012). Immigrants have learned that they are not leaving behind their own believes and norms, but mixing their norms, this gives them the opportunity to create and mix their culture with the new. Cultural assimilation can be hard to achieve because in one hand it is important to change in order to live within a different culture, but on the other hand it is important for a person to maintain their identity regardless of where they live. At times immigrants find it difficult to achieve a balance and for many families it is a struggle over generations. There are different levels of assimilation, some immigrants come to the

As a college student at Miami University in Ohio, young Daron Howard had immense interest in Spanish culture and language. His college professors urged him to immerse himself in a Spanish-speaking society so that he can hone his Spanish speaking abilities. He decided to follow their advice and spent summers and semesters in Latin American countries, such as Brazil and Panama. There he lived among different neighborhoods in the country and was able to interact with the region’s culture. After such an experience, Howard returned to the United States with a completely different outlook on the world. Being exposed to new cultures and social structures, he became increasingly interested in aspects of human society, such as the on the interactions

Children are very impressionable and tend to take on others’ opinions as their own, but as they grow older, they develop a greater understanding and perspective of the way things are and the way they should be. As adults, both Tan and Barrientos learned to accept and embrace the languages that previously embarrassed them. Barrientos immersed herself in her Mexican heritage and enrolled in many Spanish classes. With each enrollment, she faced yet another stereotype that came with being of Mexican ethnicity; her instructors thought she should already know Spanish since she was Latina. Barrientos is now determined to learn her native language. Tan has learned to love the way in

International students/scholars are facing many challenges when they arrive in the United States. Several major barriers that they face include: 1) Language barriers: Most newly arrived international students/scholars have difficulty in communicating effectively with native English speakers (McClure, 2007; Araujo, 2011; Andrade, 2006). Several factors may contribute to this situation. First, the students who learned English in another accent (e.g. British English) may have trouble following the native American English speakers. Second, native English speakers speak too fast for them. Third, misunderstanding between international students/scholars and the native English speakers may result from missing social context during conversations. Fourth, international students/scholars have trouble understanding slangs and idioms when the meaning is not obvious. Fifth, the lack of opportunities to communicate with the native English speakers hinders many international students/scholars from establishing a meaningful relationship with native English speakers; 2) Academic barriers: Differences in teaching philosophies and theories may result in a teaching style that is very different from the students’ homes. For example, group discussion might be brand new for some students. The students who have trouble in participating in class as actively as the domestic students may struggle to adapt to the different learning style (Marsh & Hau, 2004; Andrade, 2006; Trilokeka & Rasmi, 2011; Zhou,

Human beings have the ability to adapt to different environments and situations. As a Latino student with few years of living in United State with different language and culture is challenging. I have grown up in a Latino country, learning what Latino culture is. Now that I am far away from my origins, I am trying to adapt to the American culture. When I left my country, I understood that I needed to learn a new culture without forgetting whom I am, and from where I came. As a Latino student attending to a university that want to be part of it is challenging because I cannot expect people to believe, behave, or talk the way that I do. Somehow, I need to assimilate into this new culture, and I adapt to this new world of education and