My Father Is A Holy Feeling

My mom wants me to get straight A’s so that I can get into a good school and do what I want to do. My teachers want me to understand what they are teaching me so that I can get into college. They all drill these quotes into me for the same reason. This is why Joy, Wes’s mom, got so angry when he was not doing well in school and sent him to military school (Moore 88). In Wes’s case is different from mine, his teachers did not really care like mine did. His homeroom teacher did not care if he showed up for class. She said that class ran smoother when Wes was not there (Moore 77). Wes did not have people who cared for his success, other than his family, till he was in military school (Moore

I grew up in poverty with a small family, which consisted of my mother, sister, two step brothers, and my father who has a no contact order with my sister and me. Many of my peers often complain about how much they hate school and would rather be at home. But for me school was my escape from another world. A world I have no choice but to withstand. A world where shootings are common, where drugs are everywhere, where police patrol every Tuesday and Thursday; the darker side of Seattle. With both my parents being immigrants coming from war-torn countries we had no choice where to live, to eat, and to learn. As a family, we had no help from anyone so we had to keep our head up and persevere.

Fortunate to be a first-generation university student in my family of loving and caring supporters. I have wonderful parents who work day and night, to provide for my education, as well as my sister, who is soon going to become a freshman at UNLV. My mother, who worked as a porter at a Las Vegas casino since before my existence, as well as my father, who has been in the transportation industry for 25 years, work hand in hand to save up for my siblings and my education. Education is a key factor in my household. If my father and I aren’t talking about current events or the Bible, there’s no doubt that he’ll bring up anything related to school and education, and lecture me for hours about how he wasn’t granted an opportunity like I was. He has always wanted to be an engineer, and had the full potential to do so, but due to the adversity that he as well as my mother had gone through in their home country, their only choice was to flee and start a better life for my siblings and I in America. They couldn’t imagine raising a child in horrible conditions. They were a few of the fortunate one’s who have made it alive and well in America and now they work continuously to provide a better life for us.

Ever since I was a young child, my parents always told me to try my best in school, they always told me this for the reason that they never had the opportunity to have a good job because they never finished school. This event is shaping me to care a lot regarding my education. In addition to that, another event that has shaped me to become the person I am today is that since my parents don’t have good paying jobs they have to work hard to take care of me and my siblings this event has caused me to become a hard working person and to seize all opportunities to live a good life because I don’t want to struggle like my parents.

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.

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.

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 didn’t know it at the time, but I believe because of my experience that set the foundation for the student that I am today. My brother started Kindergarten and my mother would drop me off at the babysitter so she could go to school. My first “academic memory” is remembering my mother sitting at the table saying she had homework, my brother not wanting to be bothered because he had homework. So when my mom didn’t have school and my brother had school together WE did homework. That became our time together, she didn’t send me to school, she created school at the kitchen table. She had books, worksheets, cards, and my own folder. My mother loves to remind me how I use to tell everyone that I didn’t go to preschool. Fast Forward five years, my friends were getting grounded for their grades and asking me why I never got in trouble for mine. My friends and I spoke with my mom and her reply was, “I believe if you do your best, try your hardest, and do everything you can to be the best you can- I don’t believe in punishing Bethany. Now, If Bethany didn’t try her best, try her hardest, do everything she could to get the best grades she can then we will look at why.” My friend looked at me and said “Oh, you're lucky! I wish I had your mom!” I never shared that all my grades were A’s, because I did my best, I tried my hardest and I did everything I could to get the best grades I could and I still do. If I need to study for 3 hours, If I need to seek out a teacher, plan a study group with friends or students who can help, I’ll do what I need to do. I appreciate the academic recognitions as they continue to motivate me. I am not afraid of hard work and I believe this will benefit the National Honor

Even though my father never went to college, I have always wanted to go. I knew I wanted to be better and do more than my deadbeat dad did. My father always told me “you are a smart girl”, and to him anything below a C grade wise was utterly unacceptable, well for everyone besides my brother who could never manage more than a D. The amount of punishment he had to endure for that I didn’t want to imagine how much it hurt. I remember the pit in my stomach every time report cards were sent out even though I knew I did well, but the better grades I got the easier it became to keep them up. I thank my father for his strict parenting when it came to education because I know now if I didn’t have rules like that I don’t think I would be where I am now, and better off than him.

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.

See growing up in a large family like mines education was very important. Despite we didn’t have many to graduate from college put a lot of pressure on me. See my grandparents didn’t go to high school or college. So, they were real hard on their kids about go to school and graduate. So, made my parents hard on my brother and me about our education. My brother and me will be the first in our large family to graduate from college. My mom was real hard on me because she didn’t want me to go to in be like her. She had

I am a daughter of a father who migrated from Sierra Leone with nothing but a suitcase, opportunity and a high school degree. I am a daughter of a mother who struggled to finish high school and she never went back to school for her college degree. I am a sister of four brothers: 1 didn’t graduate from high school, 1 graduated from high school but never pursued a college degree, 1 enlisted in the army and went to college for chemistry and the last one struggled in college for 6 years because of his learning disability. I am Gonto Robinson, a senior, psychology and nursing major, and I will graduate a year and a half late in order to pursue two degrees. Staying in school and pursuing a higher education wouldn’t have been possible if it wasn’t for my family and teachers in high school.

I put in so much effort and it wasn’t showing at all. To say I struggled, would be an understatement. All my parents could do was encourage me. My mother cooed in Amharic, “You can do anything those kids can do.” I pondered on what she said, and her voice echoed through my head while I studied and took my tests. My parents calmed me down and made me understand that I can accomplish anything with hard work and perseverance. I kept studying, I put in an extra effort and figured out my work ethic and soon enough, the improvement started to show. It was not easy, but I pushed through and managed to get an

One of the greatest influences in my life was having a single parent mother who gave birth to me at the age of seventeen and sequentially dropped out of high school. She later went back and finished, which demonstrated to me the importance of education and having a never-give-up attitude. Her determination and example greatly influenced my decision to go to college and eventually to graduate school. To be completely honest, I didn’t fully understand one aspect of the bi directional influence until a recent conversation with my mother when she informed me that me being the first in the family to graduate from college and my drive for success has caused her to continue her education even when she wants to give up. She sat back in her chair and quoted one of her favorite scriptures; “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go” (NKJV Joshua 1:9 p. 252).

My mom would says that if you don't try you won't accomplish anything in life and you won't go anywhere. Everyday that I have to face challenge I tell myself that I have to atleast try because maybe it is not that hard as it looks. When you don't try at something your answer will always be that it is too complicated then you will get in the habit of saying to yourself that you can't do it because it looks complicated. This lesson made me a better person because now I know that if I try at least I tried to do it than just not do it at all. So when ever I have things to do at school I always give it a try even if I don't succeed because all it matter is that I did my best and tried to do it. There is nothing more you can do than give what you got and try to do