Becoming Something Different : Reflection

In the article Becoming Something Different by Colleen Fairbanks and Penny Mason Crooks, it talks about the pressure Esme suffers via school and home. I thought this was extremely interesting especially the part when it said that she thought of herself as more American then Mexican. The school that Esme attended was majorly filled with other Latinos. And when she was at home her parents tried their best with helping her with homework as best as they could.

When I was reading this chapter, I thought of my own life. I am first generation Mexican American in my family, the first to also be able to attend college. From a very young start my parents have always pushed me to do good in school because "America" is known as the land with promise / success. They came to the United States so their future children would be able to experience something that they would have never had the chance to, they wanted their kids to live a better life. And I am so incredibly grateful for that. I remember that the habit my mom had was when we came home from school we were to do our homework for an hour. She was a stay at home mom at the time while my father was working (he always worked, 24/7, I remember we would always be with him on the weekends and he would do everything with my brother, mom and me). Because my mother's English wasn't as natural as it is today she had a little trouble and whenever I did my homework she would make a copy and do it with me. She always said practice makes perfect. We would both teach and help one another. She has this binder of all the words she learned and it's incredible to look at!

Just reading that little part of Esme made me think about my own life. The only thing was that I feel as though perhaps because my parents ambition for us to do good in school and them helping in everyway possible made school enjoyable for me. I love going to school and learning new things and I believe it's because of them always telling me to be grateful that I have the honor to attend school, while many children in the world do not get that chance.

A text that I connected this article to was Rodriguez's Aria. I think it was because they both came from the same background, they were of Latino decent. I find it to be really interesting the lives that Latinos live, and the struggles they face(d). I personally didn't experience all of these things that they did but I can relate certain things to my life.

Thoughts: Do white's experience some of these troubles? If they do is it because of their social class or not?

http://www.hawkeyenewsonline.com/student-life/2012/01/05/home-life-vs-school-work/