Higher Education Obstacles

I was born in Inglewood, CA son of two immigrant parents. As a young boy, I always knew the importance of education, it was engrained in me by my mother and father. They both grew up in Mexico where they both loved school until their economic hardships forced them to come to the U.S. and work. I was the first generation in my family to go to college and will be the first to pursue a graduate degree.

My entire family was born in Guadalajara, Mexico. After three and a half years of living there my family decided to seek a better future in The United States. My father would go to the United States back and forth to work and earn money to send to us in Mexico. Eventually my mother was able to get a visa and my brother along with my little sister had an alternate way into the United States. We lived in Dallas Texas and Atlanta Georgia before settling in Howard county Maryland in a very small apartment. Luckily we were doing pretty well with my dad being the only one knowing English at the time. My father was working two jobs and I was getting ready to start kindergarten. I was very excited because the education we would have received in Mexico was nothing compared to the education in Howard County. I was excited for what was to come, but there were disadvantages of knowing only Spanish. Being bullied because of my poor English had an impact on me. I was in completely separate classes learning things that were simple compared to the regular course. I was excluded from certain activities, field trips and assemblies. I was clueless at first though as I slowly learned the language I understood things a lot more.

Coming from a Mexican immigrant family I have learned to recognize since a very young age that because of the status that my parents are placed in they cannot pursue a better future like the one I want. I have been given the opportunity to challenge myself with obtaining a higher education than just high school itself. My parents have demonstrated to me through their hard work that I have to value this opportunity unless I want to end up with low paying job. My life long dedication comes from seeing my parents make sacrifices in order for my education to continue.

I am an immigrant, many years ago I made the decision to move from Honduras to Texas, the transition was hard and I didn’t have any relatives to help me to deal with the adaptation process. Prayers and humility were my everyday help. I still remember my first job in the USA spraying insulation on new commercial building construction and cooking Mexican tacos at a small restaurant at night. While doing that job, I realized very quickly that education was the only way to succeed in this great country therefore, I quit the taco business and education became my priority.

To start, being in Mexico was really hard and frustrating for me because I barely knew anything that was in Mexico and also the shortage of money was really tough for as a kid that wants everything. Everyday I would get mad at myself because I felt useless around the people that really worked hard and had a good life, and compared to me it was tough. My parents would eventually

Moving to the United States was one of the most challenging things to do. I was forced to say goodbye to my comfort zone and travel 5,000 miles to an unknown land. At the time, I was only eight, but I remember what life was like in South America. The pain I felt while boarding the plane was unbearable; however, little did I know that moving to Indiana would help me feel closer to my family back home. Although I am from Brazil, being a part of the Hispanic Community has brought much happiness to my life. Since Portuguese and Spanish are fairly similar, I was able to fit in with the Hispanics quickly and grow unbreakable bonds with some of those kids. Whether it is because Spanish comes easy to me or because I love the culture, Spanish class

My mother immigrated to the United States from the Dominican Republic at the age of 16, all by herself! I can barely imagine being in college next year, nonetheless, moving to a new country and beginning a new life. As my older brother by 6 years and I would walk past those expensive Jordans in the mall, or stroll by the shiny Mercedes Benz parked on the corner of the street, my mother would promise that good grades and an education could one day afford us these extra facets to life. So believe me, before baseball practice, homework would be done, done

I was brought for the advantages America offered. In Mexico I saw how people tend to live with only 600 pesos a week, I witnessed how dropping out of school was seen as normal, and I saw how people are expected to marry young. I saw how 12-year-old were already acting like 20 years having boyfriends after boyfriends. To make it even more controversial they had boyfriends that were around 6 to 10 years older than them. School in general is not as supported as it is here. The government has no involvement in school expensive. The parents are expected to pay school tuition, uniforms, supplies and etc. Not being able to finish school, are the small details why my parents came to this country. They were in hope that their children would not live the life they once had. They wanted and expect better education for their children, an educated that would obtain them the opportunity for them to avoid jobs that they had. I still remember when I told my parents that I got accepted a university, the tears in my mother’s eyes and the pride in me fathers face made me realize that I was making them proud. I was making their sacrifices worth it. Once the three other acceptance letters came in, that was the conversation they would have with everyone they would see. As the first generation to attend a university, everyone supported me when my parents could not take me to the orientations my older cousins would come with

My parents immigrated from Mexico in 1981 to give my siblings and I better lives. They didn’t want us to go through the hardships they did when they were our age. However, that didn’t keep us from learning about Mexican roots. My parents taught us Spanish from the very beginning, not only to lose our Mexican roots, but also because they didn’t know any English when coming to this country. My siblings were already in their teen years when I was

My dad moved to the United States at a very young age. He crossed the border illegally many times trying to pursue the American dream, but despite of all the failures he never gave up. On the other hand, my mom moved here with a visa after marrying my dad. Both of them struggled to survive, especially since their lifestyle was completely different.

Being the first generation in America wasn't easy, I had to learn both custom. At home, we only spoke our language, because my parents were not fluent in English. My parents were not able to assist us with any of our school assignments. I got extra at school because English was not my primary language. I struggled for years and years at school, I had a difficult time comprehending school assignment. I knew my parents had a difficult time adjusting to this

As a first-generation Mexican American, I am the product of two cultures merged into one. Like many immigrants, my parents left behind their homeland and came with just the clothes on their back. They were fish out of water when they first arrived in America. They came here with hopes of pursuing the American Dream but soon realized that they weren't going to be the ones to achieve the American Dream. They worked hard so that my younger brother and I could have a shot at it. So they’ve educated us and passed the Dream along to us. The hardships experienced by my parents have inspired me to take on my own challenges. Because of the sacrifices my parents made, I am where I am today. It's an unspoken responsibility that one day I will give back to those who gave me so much.

As a college student there are many hurdles to overcome while in school. These obstacles can be dealing with school work to maintaining adequate funds to having different levels of friendship and even discovering what is the next step in life. One major hassle is no longer being able to completely rely on your parents. Every students conquers them in different ways because no one student will have all the exact same issues.

First-generation, immigrant college students face numerous obstacles in order to achieve a higher education. Popular culture is responsible for sympathizing, and giving a good image to American culture of the immigrants residing in the United States. Facebook, workplace, entertainment media sources, television, and music have become the most popular social networks among immigrants, and because of this, the practical knowledge, and literacies of these group have been improving greatly. Thanks to these resources, first-generation, working-class student’s efforts are finally being recognized. This essay was inspired on the anthology written by Alfred Lubrano titled; “The Shock of Education: How

I grew up in a Mexican household, even though I was born in the US. My first language was Spanish. My parents use to work in the tobacco fields from 4:00 am all the way to 6:00pm in a good day. While in school I was teased for not being able to speak English; or for dressing funny, and always smelling like a farm, eating weird foods. I felt depressed at moments, but thankfully my mother would always keep my mind busy. She would say “The only people that are rich in life are not the ones with money in their pockets, it's the ones that doesn’t think twice to lend a hand to someone in need.”