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Rio Grande Valley Personal Statement

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The Rio Grande Valley is located in the border region of Texas and Mexico. I live approximately five hours away from the nearest big city, San Antonio, and fifteen minutes away from the nearest international bridge. The Rio Grande Valley isolates residents from the presence of different cultures and languages other than its own Mexican culture. Growing up in the Rio Grande Valley, I have been raised in a community of approximately ninety percent Hispanics of Mexican descent. As a result, the local university I currently attend is also approximately ninety percent Hispanic of Mexican descent. I have always lived with people who look like me and one of my greatest goals was to move way to college and essentially be exposed to a variety of cultures. Unfortunately my parents could not afford tuition and I was forced to stay home. At first I was disillusioned, and then I realized that I had to move on and work with what I had. That’s when the opportunity to study abroad came along. Studying abroad will allow me the experience to live in a different environment with people different from me and gain new independent skills that I hope to implement in my future career. I have selected the program that travels to London because it offers a creative writing course that I am extremely excited for. Ever …show more content…

Not only do I love to spend time with my family, but I also want to leave home and be independent for once. Unfortunately, my family didn’t understand where I was coming from when I explained to them that I wanted to study abroad. Neither my mother or father had the opportunity to get an education so they did not understand what study abroad meant. Their rationale was that why did I need to take a class in another country if I could take the same class in my home university. It took a lot of education from my part to convince them to support me in my

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