Psychology And The Chicano Perspective Towards Psychology

Coming from a new country I had to face many challenges. All these challenges made who I am today. When I came to the United States in 7th grade, I barely knew how to speak English. The language barrier posed a serious problem for me. I found it difficult to interact with people. Adjusting to a new country was no easy task. When my family and I came to this country, we knew only one other family. It was even more difficult for my parents who knew virtually no English. They had to learn how to work and provide for me and my siblings in this entirely new country with a completely different culture. Despite having a better background in English, it still took me over two years to become fluent in English. Although coming to America and having

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

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.

Growing up in a Hispanic household has shaped and built my values in life. At Appleton North High School, I am one out of the few Hispanic students. Knowing that my parents have migrated to America to give me a better future has motivated me to make it happen. Although, as a Mexican-American, I have felt out of place as a minority. However, with time I learned to accept my cultural differences. In fact, to this day, I thank my widowed father for the sacrifices and greater opportunities he has given me. My goal is to keep representing the few Hispanic students in college by working hard to achieve my career goals; not all Hispanics are fortunate enough to attend college. I also work to inspire young Hispanics to find their potential and follow

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.

My success is essential and I am proud to say that I have graduated high school with honors. This achievement is dedicated to my parents and all Hispanics who have passed away or suffered to live the American dream. I want to be the representation for my culture and demonstrate that we are not immigrants that come to take jobs, but we are hardworking people that earn their position with honor. This high school diploma was achieved by late nights, sacrifices, tears, happiness, but overall the support of my parents. Being in the top ten was for all the late nights they came home without eating, but still manage to say, “I’m good”. Volunteered to serve my community for the days they struggled to pay the bills and for being alone when they needed someone the most. Joined the military and graduated top three with honors to protect them for the times they exposed themselves to dangerous situations and still did it anyways, because they were willing to sacrifice for me. My biggest achievement is having them as my

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.

My Hispanic identity and heritage is an important part of my identity because it has shaped my journey as student and guided me in discovering my passion in life. I strongly believe being the daughter of immigrant parents has pushed me to work harder as a student and has motivated me to search for ways to help my Hispanic community. Since my parents and the majority of my family are immigrants from Mexico, this unique position has exposed me to the reality of thousands of people who come to the country looking for the American Dream, but also the difficult obstacles they face in their daily lives. As a child, I witnessed how my Hispanic community lived in the shadows and were afraid to speak up when injustices occurred because of the inability to speak English and the lack of knowledge

I am a U.S. born citizen. My parents moved to the United States in 1984 without knowing anything about this country. Looking for a fresh start and new opportunities, my parents settled in Houston. With hardly knowing any English, my parents knew this was the place to make dreams become a reality. Luckily, I had older siblings to look up to whenever I needed help. Like Lahiri, I was trapped in between two different cultures while I was growing up. At home, I only spoke Spanish, but in school it was English. My habits and customs were different than others. Life as an immigrant’s offspring can be very difficult. As I grew older, I allowed myself to open my eyes and see the beauty of being an American from Hispanic descent.

Growing up as a first-generation college-bound Hispanic woman has proven to be a difficult journey. Both of my parents left their home countries at a young age and came to this country without any ideas or real opportunities on where to begin. At a young age, I have been taught that having a higher education is the key to having a successful and plentiful life. However, the journey towards achieving my dream of receiving a higher education has been filled with moments where I have challenged the stereotypes about getting pregnant and dropping out of high school, facing my grandma’s unexpected illness that affected me both academically and mentally, and the challenge of being a first generation college bound student in my family.

My motivation of further study and research in the field of clinical psychology was developed throughout my undergraduate study. In my Community Mental Health’s class, I learned about the need of bilingual mental health workers who work with underservice communities such as the Hispanic community. The class Psychology of Learning exposed me for the first time to the behaviorist approach, which ideas captured me. Behaviorists wanted to transform psychology into a hard science by only studying the

The life experience that made me diverse was the moment I stepped foot on U.S. land at age three and became undocumented. Being undocumented became my identity. Fear of being deported grew with me, hiding me in the shadows. I never saw past high school, so I started to take advantage of my supposed last years of learning by maintaining the highest grades I could earn. In return, I have been able to join the National Honor Society, enabling me the opportunity to graduate high school with honors. Seeing my journey going from thinking I was not able to attend college because of my status to being able to graduate with honors has taught I am deserving of a higher education. Being undocumented has not restrained me from pursuing my education,

The main factor behind my decision to attend CUNY Baruch College was the affordable tuition. When I applied to colleges as a senior in high school, I did not completely understand what my DACA status would mean for me in terms of financial aid. Through miscommunication with my college counselor and a lack of proper research on my part, I was admitted to selective colleges such as Boston College, Boston University, and New York University, but I was notified on acceptance that I would not be eligible for any financial aid. None of the schools I had been admitted to offered financial assistance for undocumented students. New York University did, however, offer me a merit scholarship covering half the tuition, but I was unwilling to place such

At this point in my life I am eager to continue my education in the hopes of mastering my purpose of helping others. I realize that by way of consequence of difference, the intersectionality of many factors of an individual’s life can lead to negative experiences and this is an aspect of society I hope to change. Also, my dream of opening my own psychology office would not be possible without furthering my education. This degree will allow me to counsel at risk youth and make a difference in their lives. I know that continuing my education through this program will prepare me for the professional practice I will encounter daily and help to lay the foundation of my future as a helpful member of society.

In my original personal narrative, I mentioned that I grew up in a mostly white middle class town with a 15% Latino population. In some ways, I grew up in a town that is in the forefront of a national discussion about increasing multiculturalism and acceptance of Latino Americans. We have come to realize that not all illegal immigrants are criminals here to do us harm. Some are people who have been here many years, raised families and contributed to our society. During my childhood, I had friends that were Korean and Latino descent, and I am grateful to have experience with those diverse cultures. In this class and in a previous teaching class, I worked with and got to know students of different ethnicities. We learned in class about legislation that would provide English learners with more support while they are assimilating and learning English (Buenrostro,2017). This can only benefit everyone as we raise the level of proficiency for the newest students. We Americans may have different cultures and traditions, but we all have value that can add to our society. I hope to continue my ethnic studies to further my understanding of other cultures. With the power of knowledge, we can break down barriers and stereotypes.