rief Personal Background Information:
I was born in California and moved to Colorado right after I was born to live with my mother, father and sister. During my childhood things were pretty rough. We did not have much money and my mother was an alcoholic. My father was constantly working one-hundred plus hours a week to keep food on our table and a roof over his family’s head. Although, things were rough we managed to make it okay and when I was 15, we moved back to California to start fresh. The move was quite difficult on me, considering I had just begun high school and with one year behind me, I was forced to move away from everything I knew and begin to make new friends as a teenager. All of us being teenagers at one time, I am sure
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I worked at the accounting firm for the next ten years and gained a ton of experience. However, during the recession, I was laid off and forced to head a new direction in my future. My first thought was… job hunt! “I have so much experience.” I said to myself. Unfortunately, I had no college and no degree of any kind. Most employers wanted to pay me a wage I could be making working fast food at a local eatery. My husband will always be my saving grace and has created an environment where I am able to be in school today working on a degree that has always been a passion of mine. I am working towards my child and adolescent studies degree with a credential in elementary teaching. Although, my childhood might have started out rough, I believe that I am headed somewhere great. And that is just a little bit about me.
Experiences with Culture, Ethnicity and Diversity:
Part 1:
My first personal experiences with someone different from me would have to be at home. My immediate family is all white but several of my family members such as cousins, aunts and uncles have married women and/or men of color. The first time I was introduced to a person that was different than me I believe I was about 5. My uncle married an African American woman around that time and she brought with her a daughter. The impact of this event was extremely positive in nature. I did not feel any negativity or indifference towards her because she
Growing up I lived in the small town of Duncan, Oklahoma; although, not nearly as small as the town I currently reside in. Throughout my adolescence, I attended Mark Twain Elementary School and as I was ending the third grade, my parents decided that we should move to Fox, Oklahoma to be closer to my grandparents. Moving would bring big changes my way such as a smaller school, living in the middle of nowhere, and new ways of entertainment. Living in the country has its pros and cons, but I can tell you the only thing I could think of the night we moved out there was the cons. Eventually, I had grown accustomed to the silence, lack of traffic, and having nothing to do. Looking back I feel that if we had not moved to the country then I would
My birth took place in Mar del Plata, Argentina, into a family of six including myself. Years passed, my mother gave birth to a girl and was pregnant soon after to another. My father, a strong laboring mechanic decided that it was time he moved his three boys and soon to be three girls from the home he literally built with his bare hands alone, to another country with grander opportunities, not for himself, but for his six children. He decided that with the money that cost him years of tireless work and stress he could only afford passage for himself. He set off for the United States and for months he worked day in and day out, any job he could get his hands on. He paid for our flight and had a modest, dainty apartment awaiting our arrival.
While growing up my mother worked at a child development center educating children ages 3-5. I enjoyed watching her interacting with the children. So I decided to try to teach a few of the students like she did and I did very well. This is when I knew I wanted to be a teacher. I worked at Jefferson Place Learning Center for almost 5 years. There I decided there to obtain my CDA to groom my skills as an educator but I was not able to complete this. In 2011, I decided it was time for a change and I decided to leave Jefferson place and moved to KinderCare Learning Center. I really enjoyed working for KinderCare but due to transportation I had quit and I started to work Wal Mart. My heart was heavy because I knew that working for was not something
In early 2006 I was knocked off track. My little brother was killed in a car accident at the age of 17. My world went pretty dark for a while, and I dropped out of college and left my jobs. After a few months of deep grieving, I got on my feet and got a job making more money as a receptionist for a window company. I pushed my passion to the back of my brain and put the money first. I was all determined to have a “grown up job” and be on my own. This meant I couldn’t afford classes, or books. I also had to have a full time day job to afford my rent. Teaching went to the back burner for several years. I was offered higher positions at my job, and pretty soon found myself sitting in the office behind the desk from which I myself was hired. I hated it. I could sit on the computer all day long and do nothing. Most people would’ve loved my job. But I could not handle
Growing up as a military brat wasn't easy, there were many places we had to go to and we didn't have a choice. One of those places was here ,Illinois, and I was ten when we made the move here.This move was probably the hardest thing I have ever physically gone through considering all of my mom and I's stuff was lost in the ocean because the place we moved from was Hawaii.So, when we got here me and mom both didn't have our stuff but the rest of my family did.To make matters worse my dad was being shipped out to South Korea and we didn't have a house. For a whole year we were homeless,we put what was left of our stuff into storage and moved in with grandma. As terrible as that year was, it taught me a lot about what some people actually live
My parents came to the U.S. with nothing but the money in their pockets. We lived with my three aunts for a year, until my father could figure what to do. He decided to start a convenience store to try to provide for his family. He was not making as much as he was in Korea, but he had to make do with what he had. Due to this lack of income, I had to attend four different elementary schools: one in Korea, two in Baltimore County, and one in Howard County. Even though two of them were in Baltimore County, I still could not maintain my friendships because I could not drive, and my parents had to work all the
The environment in which i was raised on was a pretty and calm back then. I came from a not rich or medium class but a low class. That place was that i was raised where i came from is mexico matamoros tamaulipas not a really good or great place now but where i lived was the best place ever. lived there all my childhood until i was six. My parents wanted a better future for me a better education a better life for me so we moved to the united states. I still had my both parents and in still do except at that time we had bad economic situations. My dad had to head up north and look for a job in florida i didn’t want him to go especially because it would be hard for me not being able to see him. Sometimes i wouldn’t see my dad for a year or two
Prior to moving to the United States, my life was less challenge and much easier. I was not an independent person. I did not know to do a lot of things in the past. For instance, I could not cook, I never took bus, I did not know where to get an ID or a driver license, and I was not sure where to fix my scooter if it was broken. I simply made a phone call to either my father or my mother, and they handled everything for me. I could have done all the above things, but I did not want to because it was nice to have my parents take care of me. Additionally, I often spent time with my family and friends. We planned cook-out dinners, baby showers
However, I wanted a well paid job as a Business Manager in one of the large research departments at the University of Maryland. This was my dream job. However, a major challenge for me trying to obtain my dream job was that I didn't have yet a College Degree in Business Administration or any related area. I was pursuing a College Degree in Business Administration but I still had many years left to complete my degree. Again, as usual, my beloved mentor Joao came to my rescue. He taught me that even though I did not have a College Degree yet there were unconventional but very effective ways to land my dream job. He told me to apply for jobs before they are ever listed. Thus, I needed to connect with people from all walks of life at University of Maryland to learn about these hidden opportunities. Then, as I developed mastery in business administration and the specific business processes standardized at University of Maryland I would continue to create job opportunities even though I did not have yet a College Degree. He insisted that these large departments will always need people who can deliver strong results. I started to get interviews at the large research departments and I insisted in my interviews, as Joao advised, that I was willing to learn and I was not afraid to constantly educate myself. This way, I landed my dream job as a Business Manager at the Astronomy Department in spite of not having a College Business Degree yet. I have been there for almost 10
As a child, I grew up many places, my dad’s old job moved us around a lot. I was born in Hayward, Ca. and moved to Red Bluff as a baby and stayed until I was like 5 or 6. Then I moved to Taylor, Arizona and lived there until I was 8. I moved to The Dalles, Oregon and turned 9 shortly after, we lived at the very top of Oregon, right next to the Washington border. I could see Washington driving down certain streets, but by the time I was 10 I had been somewhat homeless. I lived in a car with my 3 other siblings and parents for a month or so. It wasn’t like it was horrible, we never slept in the car. We stopped at motels and we drove highway 101, because we were struggling and the beach solves everything.
The challenges I faced are financial struggles back in California, living with my grandparents until I know which parent has custody, learning english as a second language, and finding who I am. I lived in California for 10 years until I moved to North Carolina in 2011. The household size was 10 and money became an issue. My grandparents household consisted of my aunt, 5 cousins, grandparents, my sister, and me. Most of my clothes were hand me down from my uncle that visited every week and I went to an elementary school that require uniforms. There was always food in the house due to food stamps from the government and family members helping each other out.
In my life there have been many personal challenges I've had to deal with. Many of these challenges circulate around my movement with my mother as we've been all over the United States as her job wasn't as stable five years ago as it has become recently. We lived in Iowa for four years, 1,000 miles away from my father and the house I grew up in. We became two separate households. I knew, most of all, it would be a strain on my parents, who would only get to see each other on holidays or whenever they could scrounge up enough money for the journey.
I moved to California around one year and a half ago with my family. My parents decided to move here to give their daughters a better education and better opportunities. My parents are my biggest influence because they have helped me understand how important it is to work hard to achieve my goals. I learned that if I work for what I want, I can be very successful. My parents left their own house, land, jobs, and family just to give their daughters a chance to be successful in life. I think that seeing them give everything away just so that my sister and I can study and get our degrees is incredible. They have not only shown me to be independent and a hard working person, but they have taught me how to be considerate and selfless. I lived in
I was born in raised in Los Angeles and moved to San Antonio when i was 12. For a better living with my family.I moved to San Antonio in 2011 but i was very excited to try new things and make more freinds.It was over a month when i moved to San Antonio and i started to miss california so much.but that didn't stop me from trying new things.Since i live a in a community my neighbors are right next door from me,and since we lived next door from each other we would help out each other. I started to get just to the new environment that i was living in and i started to like it a lot because it was calm and i started to like my middle school and the fact that was making a lot of friends. My family taught me to always try new things and not be
I was born in a small town in Mexico on March 20, 1998. My life over there was rough, my mom had to work two jobs so she can provide for me and my brother. My brother was the one that always took care of me and was like a father figure. Leaving everything behind and having to start again chasing the American dream was hard, but was for the best. I had to learn a new language and interact with different people. In the beginning I didn't like being here I felt alone being in a strange place, going to school was also difficult since I could not communicate with my teachers and with most of my peers. That changed when I learned more English and I did everything I could to adapt to this country. I also saw how much my parents worked and still struggled