College Admissions Essay: Education Vs. My Mother

As a young child, I learned that education would be beneficial to not only myself but also all humankind. Growing up in a Northeast Florida housing project my father and mother did the best they could to raise nine children. My father worked seven days a week in the service industry as a waiter and bartender while my mother worked as a domestic employee in the homes of more affluent people in the south. My father had an eleventh grade education and my mother had not passed the tenth grade before she bore her first child. Neither parent completed high school but they had dreams of their children far exceeding their educational accomplishments. I was child eight of the nine and I knew early on that I did not want to live

Being born of 2 immigrant parents, who work menial jobs and have no education has always had its weight on me. Neither one of my parents are high school graduates and no one in my family has obtained a collegiate education. I have been able to experience first hand how difficult a life with no education is. I recall other students sharing how their parents provided aid with their homework and read to them, knowing I did not get to experience that made me gloomy. I had no other choice but to learn everything on my own and then attempt to teach my parents. This peculiar lifestyle has pushed me harder in academics and has given me a genuine appreciation for the value of an education.

From a very early age, I always assumed it was a part of my future to pursue an education. The American educational system engraves the importance of school at a very young age. Elementary school children are motivated through rewards when they try their hardest to reach their goals. Students are exposed to statistics and facts outlining the consequences of not getting a college degree as soon as they reach middle school. High school counselors and staff make it their priority to ensure that students apply to college. Students are conditioned to believe that education is the building block to a successful future. My cultural upbringing did not support my choice to pursue an education, however, I refused to conform to my family’s behavioral expectations because certain norms must be challenged due to progressive time periods and conflicting values.

During Sharon M. Drapers childhood years, they were very successful because of her parents. Her parents encouraged her and her siblings to study, work hard, and as a result they could reach any goal they set for themselves. As encouraging as her parent were, they would set standards for each child and push them to be the best they could be. Her parents taught her that every opportunity you get you take because you never know what the future holds for many cases. In the educational aspects “For her parents education was precious commodity”. (SharonDraper1) Ever since the time

I also believe that an education is very good to have but not all that society makes it out to be. I feel that a person should have a good education so that can open up his mind and give him something to persuade in his future. If a person is educated that can really have an advantage in the “real world” today. Society looks very highly on a person with a good education, but this is where I disagree with society. Since society looks so highly on education, the people that may have a natural talent or trait may never get a chance to peruse a good career. The job market will always look at the person that has a schooling background and never at that other person that does not have a good education. Even if that person with the education may not be the best person to hire for the benefit of the company but the company will still hire him because of his education background.

Education, or the lack thereof, has always been something that plagued my immediate family. I come from a background of immigrant parents—hard-working, yet unable to acquire academic achievements. My father did not graduate out of high school in Vietnam because he was drafted into the Vietnam War and escaped as a refugee thereafter. My mother, on the other hand, graduated from high school but was not able to pursue higher education due to the burdens she had working and raising me as a child.

Despite playing the role of protector, there was no role that I enjoyed more than being able to help my siblings further their education, ensuring that their homework and mine was completed, accurate and ready for my mother’s review upon her return home from work. I was determined to transfer my passion for learning, and education in general, to my siblings and anyone in my household who would listen, which might have contributed to the fact that all but one of my siblings went on to attend and graduate from college. For me, getting an education wasn’t an option, it was the only option, a sentiment that I relentlessly stressed to my siblings, and my mother, who though a high school dropout at one point, went on to pursue and receive several college degrees later in life. At the age of 12, I took on my first job, which was essentially an entrepreneurial endeavor. My brothers and I spent the spring, summer and fall canvassing our neighborhood, seeking out residents who would allow us to mow their lawns or rake their leaves in exchange for a reasonable fee. While the earnings of that first job were meager, the intangible benefits and life lessons that I derived from it were tremendous. I learned a lot about earning and managing money, responsibility, and most significantly, what I did not want do with my life. The

As a child of two parents who never graduated high school, I often heard the phrase “To miss an opportunity is to miss the chance at growth.” I am Jose Crespo; a sophomore Accountancy major at Northern Illinois University. Throughout my life, I’ve had many opportunities to become a better individual, and I can attribute those opportunities to my education. When I was younger, I was always taught that education was a major key to a successful future because it unlocks vast amounts of experiences and it shows resilience. If a person can balance his or her education with his or her life circumstances, then he or she can accomplish anything; my grandmother is responsible for this belief. She always wanted me to further my education and put it

Since I could remember my parents have been working hard to give me the best life they can. Although both of them never finished high school, they have always told me that education should always be my top priority. For many years both of my parents worked but after my little sister was born, my mom devoted herself to taking care of us. It came with positives and negative outcomes. My mom got the chance to help me through my elementary and middle school years with my schoolwork and I always felt like I could count at her at any given moment. But, it hurt our family financially. My dad was the only one working and he got laid off during the recession from his job. Eventually, he found a job, but it didn’t pay as much as his older job. To this day, he is still the only one that works and I thank him for teaching me always be a hard worker and that education is the path to a successful life. It has been hard, especially when you don’t have all the technology that is usually essential when doing schoolwork, but I am glad that I matriculated a way to defeat any of the obstacles that came my way whether it came to schoolwork or in other aspects of my life.

Being a first generation American puts some weight on your shoulders-you carry the dreams of your mother, her mother, and the rest of your family that gets left behind. The American dream- a privilege and a burden. Growing up my parents instilled in me the importance of education through over told stories of them coming to the United States trying to grasp knowledge in a language foreign to them. Yet even with the stories, the life lesson went over my head. When you have something you don’t have to work as hard for you forget to value it.

Similar to many of my peers, the importance of pursuing a post-secondary education has been preached to me by my mother. One thing that makes my situation unique is seeing the importance of an education through actions. My mother left university when I was young because she was a single mother who had three young children. I saw first-hand what it was like to live without a higher education, and that experience only pushed my determination to work as hard as possible to ensure that I could have the opportunity to go to university one day.

I am the daughter of two mexican parents that migrated to the United States to provide a secure future for their children. My parents never had the opportunity to attend school past the third grade. My mother first migrated to Mexico City at the age of thirteen to financially help her family and my father migrated to the United States at the age seventeen to help his family financially. Having to work in the fields at a very young age, my parents knew they wanted to provide better living conditions financial stability and an education for their children. In my parents culture, women are not the ones to attain a higher education and are encourage to be housewives only. It came as a shock to my parents when I was determined to go to a university,

Education is the key to success and without it you will not have a future. That is embedded in my brain. As a teenager you listen to your parents nag on you all the time about school and just think it’s easier said than done. But for me I lived through paradigm, my mom went back to school while raising us and working two jobs. She graduated from ASU with a 4.0 GPA and was honored and on the news because of all she’s done and went through in her lifetime. I have a difficult enough time doing my homework and going to basketball training. My mother went to school full-time, had two jobs, cooked for us, cleaned, paid bills, went to our games and still managed to get a 4.0. She always tells us if I can do it you can. Nothing in life comes easy you have to work for it, then you will be a success, if it is just given to you then you will never recognize the value of it.

“Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school” is a famous quote from a man who has been awarded the title as one of the smartest people of all time, Albert Einstein. In most cultures around the world, education is the foundation of how successful their culture is. This is no different in America, where receiving an education is driven into young children 's minds and necessary to receive a decent career. However, education has a different effect on everyone and there are obstacles that may get in the way. This can be seen based off the experiences of Richard Rodriguez, a man who is a first generation Mexican American student, Mike Rose, a man who was placed into the wrong educational track in high

Education is a great thing that everyone tries to achieve for themselves and for their children. The reason for this, is that when one has a great educational background, it can lead to the person getting a better job, a better income, and a better chance to provide for their family. Some, however might not get this opportunity or do not realize the importance of a great education until it is too late. The reasons a person might not get a great education are numerous, and it can include they can’t afford the high cost that comes with getting a college education, don’t have the time, or just come from a poor family and feel that, they won’t be accepted into these schools. These types of issues usually affect your average American family,