The Life Of My Hua, My Mom

First of all, my family is Chinese. My parents immigrated into the United States 15 years ago from Hong Kong and so I am the first generation to go to college in the US. It is important to note that my parents did not come to the US so that they can attain a higher status but more so because they wanted to give me a chance to attain a higher status. When we first arrived my mother did not work, and my father’s first job was at a Asian supermarket. The pay was low and there was no coverage of any kind. We lived at my Aunt’s house until we managed to find public housing in Charlestown. Somewhere around that time my father managed to find a job at Boston Scientific as a Material Handler, and basically what he does it drive a forklift truck around a warehouse to find and move stock. The job change did not alleviate my father’s nor the family’s status. The pay was better and there is health insurance and retirement plans. However, even with my father working overtime, there is still simply a shortage in money especially when my twin brothers came along. That was when my mother decided that she needs to work too and she found herself working as a waitress at two Chinese restaurants. In terms of jobs, I think my parents did the best they could considering they speak little to no English and only have a high school education. There is simply not a wide range of options for

I have the opportunity to go get a degree, but of course that comes with a financial burden. I'm not a D1 football player who holds a full ride scholarship. Although I have received some scholarship money to help offset the cost, I am still left paying almost 16,000 out of pocket. We are not talking loans here, we are talking cash out of pocket. That number makes my mom very uncomfortable especially because she is a single parent. She's left being responsible for that debt. She often finds herself worrying about this cost. She wants me to be able to finish college at all costs, but she worries that the price will become a huge burden, and I won't be able to stay at Robert Morris the whole time. I hate that my mom has the weight of the world

The parents of these adults have probably told their child of the sacrifices they must have given up on to immigrate to America, and have probably drilled the moral of hard work. It is not only hard work that these family prioritize, but also happiness. These parents want their children to gain happiness they could not experience. But if most of these adults are not going forward in education, they are putting their parents hard work in vain. It is understandable that school work is not proper for everyone, but it should not be a trend that everyone must

The only people they have look up to are their parents who are more likely than most to not be educated. Even if they make it to college, as the first in the family to college, kids are 4 times as likely to drop out (according to USA Today).

In America, the income level of families can determine whether or not they will continue on to a higher education. Children are taught at a young age that in order to get a decent job, they must attend school for 12 years and pursue a higher education. “The massive structure of the educational system is a reality that determines life chances and choices” (Newman, 2017, p. 250). Children who are raised in middle and upper-class households have the idea of education is valuable in order to be successful. At a very young age, middle and upper-class children have the impression they will, in fact, attend college. Children of working-class parents are taught to abide by the rules and respect higher authority. Although education is not a major focus for low-income families, their prime goal is to finish high school and learn a trade. Cultural tendencies also impact the way children participate in education. (ADD

My entire life education was emphasized greatly, whether it be from parents, family friends, teachers, you name it. In the case of my parents the urgency came from immigrating to America from Albania; which was under a communist system at the time which had little opportunity for education. My father, born and raised in the old country, dropped out of school when he was just twelve years old and worked at home tending to crops and cattle. My mother was considered a “city” girl, although the merit to that title did not mean much other than simply living in the city. She and her parents worked in factories most of their lives and did not lead any better a life than my father did; at times when money was tight they resorted to stealing from

As a result of working at a young age, my mother was encouraged from her own mother to discontinue her education in the third grade. “I don’t know if I was happy or sad…. I didn’t have the right age to fully understand what or how I

Myself thought my mom thought that I’m a hard worker because I have a job and get paid 10 dollars an hour. My mom wants me to have a great experience because she didn’t have one. My mom spoke of her dropping out because she required help and struggles a lot. She vocalizes that her fear is that I will get behind in school. That is because I often got behind.

Growing up, I was always told to be either a doctor or lawyer. Since I knew being a lawyer was not going to happen, I chose the health field. My mom and relatives would tell me that if I thought becoming a doctor was too much work, I could always go into nursing or pharmacy, or do something lighter, like accounting. My mom, like most of my aunts, does not have a college degree due to factors that she could not control. Being from Vietnam, she was only taught life skills and how to be a good housewife and a mother. She doesn’t think that I will end up keeping and focusing on my career when I grow up, because

Growing up, college was never a topic of discussion. I was raised by a single mother who had me when she was still in high school and my sibling on her twenty-third birthday. I was only ever told, “Graduate from high school, child-free, and get a job. You don’t need college and I can’t afford to send you anywhere.” Years later, I was told by another family member that I was my mother’s dream killer; being pregnant with me caused her to lose the scholarship she’d earned and prevented her from attending the school of her dreams. My mom worked hard to provide for myself and my sister and has had a long, successful career with a high salary. I believe this to be partially because she felt that she had to give us a good childhood.

Living in a household of 7 siblings was not easy, especially for a single mother who is also an immigrant. I was one of the youngest. My mother was diagnosed with her illness and has major depression since I was 12 years-old, so she had to stop working. For me overcoming poverty in my family is hard because my mother is not able to work due to her illnesses that she has to face. Growing up knowing not being able to afford certain types of things or being able to help around the house financially was difficult, I felt like I was not good enough and useless until a professor that I met had a similar story as mine advised me that in order to get out of my situation was to get an education. I have five sisters and one brother, the four oldest never went to college and live off paycheck by paycheck. We rely on my brother for financial assistance since he is the only one in our family who has earned a degree. I never really like to talk about my life at home, for me, it shows a sign of weakness. I feel like

school isn’t meant for everyone. If you don’t have any desire to go to college then don’t go. You shouldn’t be forced to go to college if you don’t want to go. No reason in spending the money for no reason. I on the other hand want to go to college and don’t at the same time. My mom wants to make me go but I feel like it’ll be a waste of time. I want to take a year off, get a job and save. She however, doesn’t think I should do that because then I’ll never go. I’m not sure what I want to do that. I want to take a year off, adventure, travel, and

When I was 5 I realized I would always have a temporary home, moving from place to place. My mother was always heavily induced with drugs and alcohol, never knowing my dad, unfortunately, I felt as if I was one big mistake on this earth. I watched my mother go from guy to guy, then one day she met Scott who told her everything she wanted to hear. One morning I watched mother slip on a long white flowy dress, dab some perfume on her neck that smelt like the daises I picked as a child, and we were out the door. I asked where were we going, and she said “Scott and me are getting married Sydney, you are going to have a father now.” I laid my head down in the back seat praying things would be better now. Watching him spin her around and pronounce his love to her, it was history from that moment. And for the first time in my life, as luck would have it, I had a place to call home… so I thought.

Literacy has always been close to my identity as a person. My mother wanted the best for her children, and therefore would sing and read to us as soon as we were born. She encouraged out love of words and books by taking us to the library for reading time and always seemed to find the most amazing books for us to explore. My mother is very musically gifted, so songs were part of our daily routine. There are still little songs that pop into my head about daily tasks that she created to help us learn and make work and learning fun.

This story is about my mother. Her name is Nita. As much as i like her i like her name too. If there is reason that i do not like her that would be she name me kunjan. Love and mom both are same words for me. She guides me in good ways every single day. She cares smallest things that related me and she always worry about me and my older brother TAPAN.