Personal Narrative: Daughter Of Mexican Parents

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.

Being a daughter of immigrant parents has never been easy here in America. Both my parents worked excessively hard to be financially stable. Unfortunately at the age of ten my life changed. I learned that my parents no longer loved each other. The arguing and fighting my parents had, only damaged me emotionally. I was too young to grasp the idea that my parents were separating which become one of the hardest times for my mom to maintain my siblings and I. Shortly after, I began attending church and fell in love with the idea of getting closer to God. Luckily, my life took an enormous turn the moment I gave my life to Christ. God has opened numerous opportunities for my education. I am proud of all the accomplishments I have achieved in high

My story would have never begun if my parents had not made a huge decision in my life, almost 15 years ago. When they decided to move our family across the border, my future would be become unknown. The fate I had been destined to have was completely altered, now, I had the opportunity to change my life for the better, to strive for something bigger. My parents pushed me to be the best I could be, and to work as hard as possible to get what I wanted. As the daughter of two Mexican immigrants I grew up in a very cultural household, and being surrounded by Spanish at all times. The only negative being I had to learn English on my own, and which led to me having some difficulty when I first started school. Yet, growing up in a Spanish speaking

My parents always wanted to give their children the life they never had. I am Mexican-American, both of my parents immigrated from Mexico to the U.S. before I was born. I have numerous relatives, including my older sister, who do not have the same opportunities I have to achieve success because they are undocumented. For them, college was only a dream that could never be attained. Being the first U.S. citizen out of my entire family affected the way I thought about life. It was expected that I would attend college because I was the only one who had access to all the resources granted to American citizens. Although, I agreed with my family, the pressure to succeed and be a role model to my younger siblings was overwhelming.

As the daughter of an immigrant, I have witnessed the various barriers faced by immigrants, and this experience has motivated me toward my career objective. According to the Pew Research Center Hispanic Trends Project, there were about 11.3 million immigrants living illegally in the United States in 2013 (Passel et al., 2014). These immigrants come from all parts of the world for several different reasons. Whether to provide better resources for their family back home or to live a better life, these immigrants usually work in environments that can be harmful and dangerous to their health.

There were three lessons that my immigrant parents ingrained in their first-generation children: Work hard, never give up, and most importantly, give back. Among other life lessons they taught us, these three were the basis for everything. It would be the basis that would and will define me as a person.

As a hispanic girl, the typical dream which is expected of us is to want to have a quinceanera. Which would be a large party for the transition from childhood to adulthood. However this wasn’t the way it went for me. My dreams where different. I could honestly care less about having a huge party to celebrate me turning 15. Of course it would be great experience to have one and it is a once in a lifetime thing as you can only turn 15 once. Yet, I tend to not want this but at the same time I long having one. This wouldn’t be for the attention that is give or presents or anything you would expect. I would want it so that I could fulfill a long term dream. One which I have held onto for many years. I’d do it, only in order to be able to meet my other biological parent.

Since the moment I opened my rejection letter, I have pondered what may have caused my rejection. Yes, my GPA isn’t perfect and I have withdraws on my transcript, but my story is far more than a couple of numbers. Growing up in a Latino culture we have different social expectations in our lives. In Latino culture, working is far more important than studying. Consequently throughout my childhood, being the oldest child of 3 it was my responsibility to help my mother and father work. I started from the age of 7, helping them anyway I could. Whether it be helping my father clean carpets or helping my mother perform house cleanings. It was Lenelle Moise who said, “The children of immigrants don't get to be children. We lose our innocence watching

Growing up Mexican-American is similar to living a dual-identity. It feels as if I’m stuck in-between a border where I am unsure if I’m more American or more Mexican. Mexican-Americans have to live a life of proving themselves to the world. Am I Mexican enough to my family and am I American enough to the people of the United States.This idea was new to me even though I had been living with this.

Liliana while I did not live in the exact same situation as yours, I can definitely relate due to coming from a Mexican household as well. Many of the females in my family, from both my mother's and father's side, do not work outside the house as well back in Mexico, including my mother who lives here in Arizona because that was what they were taught and used to seeing in households. In my youth, I was often told from family members that I should strive for better than just relying on a husband for support because of how society is changing now and how unfair it is with only depending on them. I was raised in the U.S, but my parents immigrated here and adopted many of the values held here compared to the ones they had prior in Mexico such as

“Come on guys, going to be late”, my brothers told me and my sister as well as my sister in law. Running down our long stairs in Mexico. Wishing I could live there, but things aren’t as they were before. Wearing long brown boots and all dressed up to go watch the bulls. Walking for about 10 minutes to get there, stopped by my cousin’s store get get some drinks. Finally got there with my family. Trying to get a spot to sit at for a nice view.

“The Spanish girl” – that would be my name the first year in a British school when I moved from Madrid to London. This journey made me face the numerous challenges of learning English and adapting to a new culture. My days in school would be a combination of mockery and alienation, which consumed me. No one knew me, I had to recreate my personality, redefine myself; it was a chance to start over and be anyone I wanted. However, having been forced to move, I was not ready to do so and I failed to overcome the cultural-social barriers.

I meet my Grandparents and Mexico because of my mom. “Jamie we are going to Mexico and you will your Grandparents” said my mom “What!”. The time had come I had to say bye to my dad and get into the plane. “Bye dad I will miss you so much” “You will come back Jamie, I will miss you too” my dad answer. We got to Mexico City and my Grandpa was at the airport waiting for us. We got to the town I had never seen so many people all my family was there the family of my dad and mom. I didn't know what to do I was barely 5 years old. They had make tamales and don't remember what else. I just wanted to do is go back to the US. The first few weeks were horrible I hated Mexico they didn't have good pizza and hamburgers the food that my grandma did I didn't

Latina is what people classify me as, when they look at my appearance and I identify myself as a Mexican American female. I love my culture and I am very proud of it and my favorite dish is camarones empanizados, which are fried shrimp. I am an individual who does not enjoy the cold weather at all; I would rather live in a place where it would be over ninety degrees everyday. Also, many people describe me as a responsible and honest person and I too identify myself with those descriptions. In my self portrait I include all the words that describe me and all the things in life that mean the most to me and the things that I would rather stay away from.

I remember receiving a phone call from relatives in Mexico informing my family that my grandfather was in the hospital. My dad immediately told me to start looking for airline tickets for my mom, brother, and I because we were flying out there to see him. Fortunately it was around Christmas break so we easily got some days off from school. I was feeling a variety of emotions; I was excited because I had never been to Mexico before but i was also nervous because my first time going would be because of a possible emergency. I was scared of traveling there because of how dangerous it had been at the time. But, mostly I was upset because I didn't know how my grandfather was doing.