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Reflective Essay: The Role Of Education In Hispanic Backgrounds

1248 Words5 Pages

Throughout our lives since we were children we have been told an education is the only way to a successful career and live a happy life without financial worries, however, people do not realize everyone experiences education in different ways, for example I happen to be born into a low-income Hispanic family where statistically an education was out of my reach and I would not even graduate from high school. In order for me to not be a statistic and actually obtain an education my mom and dad structured the household and my older brother and I with us being one year apart, failure was not an option for the both of us and they would remind us every day an education was the only way out and the only way if we wanted to change our economic and …show more content…

According to the United States Census Bureau of 2012, Hispanic Students trail behind, Asians, African American, and White student in obtaining a bachelor’s degree (2014, p. 211). My parents grew up in a time where a college degree was not a prerequisite for employment throughout the 1970’s and 1980’s but moving and raising two kids in California during the 1990’s my parents would not have the same approach with me which is why they prohibited me from applying to jobs throughout my teen years. Every time I would bring up a job opportunity my parents shut it down immediately, they always said school is your only job end of discussion. I would have battles with them and argued that even community college is not cheap with textbooks, class fees, and gas to drive to school and back home, because my parents did not want me to stress over a minimum wage job and balance school at the same time they would help me with having a place to stay rent free, provide me with gas and groceries allowance weekly, and a car in exchange to not seek employment and to only focus in school and transfer to a University. My parents feared if I was employed I would lose focus on school and drop out for a meaningless minimum wage job as they have seen happen to some of my cousins and kids in our neighborhood. In fact, according to the Public Agenda Organization, the number one reason why students drop out of school was because they had to balance school and work at the same time (2014, p.207). At first I was bitter about our agreement but later as years went by it turned out to be one of the best things to ever

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