It 's all about finding my home away from home. I love South Carolina and I 'm not ready to leave yet. I am ready to explore the other beauties South Carolina has to offer, and USC Upstate 's campus is beautiful. When I first heard about USC Upstate, I knew I wanted to because I want to grow and experience the cultures of the diverse population around the area and a growing school like USC Upstate will help me to see all I could all around
After summer break, I returned to Westlake High School for my junior year, feeling as if something was missing. The decision to spearhead the creation of a chapter of the Science National Honor Society (SNHS) at my school arose because of my desire to establish a niche where high school students could express their shared passion for the sciences. The SNHS would provide enlightening scientific activities and opportunities for students, and the Science club would serve as a path to introduce members into the society. I initially proposed the creation of the society in a meeting with the Principal and Board of Education. Quite a few obstacles had to be overcome to start a new organization in the school.
As a member of a working class community, my life has been a struggle between resources and opportunities available for me. Having sparse resources has lead me to the constant push of working towards the things I’ve achieved. Social identities have become a guidance for my future goals and abilities. Being working class Latina, raised in a Catholic family has created many barriers and pathways into the future I wish to hold. Furthermore, taking all the social identities I have grew into have become the bases for my educational goals and identity.
Community colleges and the American dream The American dream, is dreamt by many, but achieved by few. The road to prosperity and success is tough, but with hard work and dedication, the dream is soon to become reality. In many cases, people plant their seed in a community college close to home; where they’re able to stay with their family, while keeping the American dream alive. Personally, I believe Community colleges benefit in many ways like; saving you money, offering more time to decide your future and it allows your voice to be heard.
Being a child of immigrant parents is not easy. You are constantly living in the fear that one day you’ll wake up and you parents won’t be there with you anymore. Specially now that we have a new president, things are getting more challenging. But don’t get me wrong, I live a happy life. I am proud to call myself a Latina.
I have lived in two different worlds. The duality of the immigrant experience is a battle that every first-generation child has to wage. As I conquered my language barrier, a whole new world full of traditions and customs opened up. Seeking acceptance from my peers, it was hard not to adopt their culture and ignore my own in the process. However, abandonment was not an option in a family with a strong cultural identity.
Growing up in an immigrant household in America, was difficult. I didn’t live, I learned to adapt. I learned to adapt to the fact that I did not look like any of my peers, so I changed. Adapted to the fact that my hair texture would never be like any of my peers, so I changed. Adapted to the fact that I was not as financially well off as my peers, so I changed.
For many immigrant families moving into the U.S the culture shock is significant. Families can easily be overwhelmed by their need to fit into their new surroundings. This is especially true for children in these families. It is easy for children to get caught up in the American way of life, and that can cause the original culture to be forgotten. That is why the adults in these families have to enforce their native culture on their children, so the adults can make sure that those customs are not forgotten.
As a young minority male with two African-born parents who received zero education, acceptations were high at a young age. When I was five years old I attended PS 156 elementary school. The school had poor academic grades and eventually shut down after receiving a F. I always managed to maintain mostly As and was consistently top of my classes. I loved school and hated to see it end. When I was in fourth grade I maintained a high grade even though it was sort of a middle school atmosphere.
My family has always been the center of my universe. They’ve taught me the importance of being united and taking care of one another—because in the end, all we truly have is each other. My parents have raised me to be a good daughter, sister, and citizen. They’ve shaped me to be respectful, responsible, and virtuous, knowing these values will last a lifetime. But above all, my parents have instilled in me an appreciation and eagerness for education.
My mother and father have always wanted the best for me, like all good parents do. One of the many things that they expect from me is to receive a college education, something that they never had the chance to do. My parents always advise me to not to make the same mistakes as they did, to go to college so I can get a good job and not have to struggle in my life. With no alternative, my father had to drop out of school to help his family financially after his parents had gotten a divorce, and then he had received his GED.
Liberal Arts Self-Assessment There are many benefits to achieving a Liberal Arts education. A Liberal Arts education provides the learner with a broad range of information to help guide them in a direction that create intellectual growth. Liberal Arts cover a wide range of subjects and creates a solid foundation for many other areas of study. A Liberal Arts education teaches you how to think, learn, see things as a whole, makes you a better communicator, and problem solver. A Liberal Arts education is the most important factor in creating critically thinking, well rounded interesting individuals.
My most rewarding accomplishment consists of my ability to overcome the fear and weakness that was conceived upon my arrival to the United States from Mexico, in addition to a newly evolved character which allowed me to achieve academic, professional, and personal success. Nearly seven years ago, my mother and I immigrated from a harsh economic climate in Mexico that was plagued with unemployment. Additionally, our family faced bankruptcy. While holding onto our faith, we left our hometown with only what we could carry and bought two one-way bus tickets. With nothing more than fear, two bags, and $50 in each of our pockets, we set out for what would be the most challenging journey of our lives.
Three readings from this week, combined with the readings from last week of overarching themes, got me thinking about how I have been considering Indigenous student experiences. In fact, I have not given too much thought on the issue until I encountered it as one of the topics in a course last term. I found myself relating to Indigenous student experiences, in terms of learning needs, to a certain extent as a recent immigrant student from South Korea. That led me to enrol in this course, and I find this opportunity to be a good learning experience as each reading material presents me new insights about Indigenous student experiences. From the information presented in Pidgeon’s (2008) dissertation, I was quite frustrated how difficult
