I watched daily, rather I measured daily, how the white and lightly lavender tinted flowers slowly germinated in my biology class, emanating in a slumped state and slowly gathering its strength to stand on its own. Like the flowers, I found that as a little girl I grew up in a slumped state, obscured from the world of English and oblivious to what I wanted to become when I grow up. But as time slowly evolved I found that my devouring passion for learning and my interest in medicine sprung from the seeds of patient that were deeply planted in me.
For a little four-year old girl, I felt quarantined within the walls of my home and sheltered from the English-speaking outside world. Since my younger brother was barely a newborn, I only spoke in
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Although I wasn’t sure he understood, I began to teach him the word “friend” and how it was spelled. Overtime, speaking in English became my subliminal addiction that my father had to remind me that “solo hablamos Español en casa (we only talked Spanish at home).” As the years passed, my excitement with school diminished as I found it repetitive and boring. Everyday in elementary school, the ESOL teacher would pull me out of class, which I desperately despised because I missed classwork that I would have to make up later on. At first I was fine with ESOL because I felt I had actually learned English, but beginning in third grade I felt I didn’t need it anymore because I passed the yearly test with advanced. Despite for much that I cried that I didn’t need ESOL and justifying my performance with the A’s and B’s in my classes, I was yet to be removed. Just seeing my other Hispanic classmates perfectly sitting in class and never having to take ESOL only infuriated me and made me feel unworthy of …show more content…
As a pediatrician, I hope to inspire other children and teenagers to not rush their potential because they all grow at different rates and live through different experiences. Its not about where you are in life, but how you got there. Life is slowly blooming flower. Each day, you grow and discover a petal of yourself. We all start slow and need help to stand on our own. Even now I cringe at the thought of being in ESOL for 6 years. Was I really that slow to learn a language while it only took my brother 3 years? But I now know that I wasn’t slow, I was just slowly gathering my strength to stand on my
I have always had a passion for nursing. As a child, I watched my mother getting up early, putting her scrubs on and headed out the door for a 12 hour shift. She was always content, and at ease to go for a long shift and even overtime at times. I love the fact that after work, she would always come home, satisfied with the day no matter how hard it was for her. She would sit and tell my brothers and sisters how she enjoyed the conversations that she had with her patients and what impact she had on their lives that day. Listening to these stories as a child, I knew that I wanted to become a nurse and listening to the same stories and helping people, making their day feel better. I wanted to follow my mom’s footsteps. At the end of a long shift, it is a rewarding profession, knowing that I am saving people’s lives, making them comfortable when they are near of dying, advocate and teaching them. As nurses, we care for patients through illness, injury, aging, health. We also promote health, prevent diseases and teaching the community; that’s what I love about nursing. I believe that this is the right profession for me because I have all the qualities that a nurse should possess when
Many years ago there was a small boy who was woken by a loud scream. Terrified, he ran from his room to find his mother unconscious on the floor. His little sister was screaming as he pulled his mom onto her back in desperation. In reality, he didn’t know what to do to save her and his helplessness was due to his lack of knowledge. She passed away that night. That boy was me. Our past defines us no matter how we protest; it can either pull you down into failure or lift you up towards success. From then on, I was drawn to medical sciences and used that helplessness to motivate my education.
When I first came to this country, I wasn’t thinking about the language, how to learn it, use it, write, how I’m going to speak with people who are next to you and you want to talk to them. My first experience was in Veterans School, it was my first year in school here in United States, and I was in eight grades. The first day of school you were suppose to go with your parent, especially if you were new in the school, like me. What happened was that I didn’t bring my dad whit me, a woman was asking me a lot of questions and I was completely loss, I didn’t have any idea of what she was telling me and I was scare. One funny thing, I started cry because I fell like frustrate, I didn’t know no one from there. Someone seat next to me, and ask me in Spanish what was wrong and I just say in my mind thanks God for send me this person, then I answered her that I didn’t know Engl...
The life I have had so far has taught me a lot about academic and life skills; from when I was about six to the age I am now. I am always learning and happy to learn new things. I might not know what I want right now, but I do know that I want something for my life; I want to go to college, so I could make the future I see happen. As you 're reading this you 're probably asking yourself why? Why does going and graduating college mean so much to her? What makes her different from all the others? Well, to answer all those questions you would have to continue reading as I explain some of the moments in my life, in which they brought me to the conclusion that I have to go to college.
Soon, after I had settled into my house in Sterling Heights, elementary school started. When school started I didn’t know how to speak English so I was put in ESL, English Second language, where I would go for a half a day. This process was not easy, because I was so young. Everywhere I went there was someone new around me. My first year I was the quiet girl that didn’t talk to anyone. During fourth grade, I stopped going to the English Second Language school and just attended my regular public school. During the transition from third grade to fourth grade, I started to become more comfortable with the people and started to participate
Some life lessons are better to be learned at an early stage at life and for my situation it’s good that I did. I learned that one should never depend on others when it comes to doing your own work. You have to work hard to get what you want, you can’t just wait for others to do it for you. This is one of the toughest lessons I learned and it’s good that I learned it. Although, it was tough for me the way I learned it.
I clearly remember my first day in an American school— a little thirteen-year-old boy, who was shy to speak and tried to avoid any questions. Some of my classmates understood that English was my third language and tried to support and encourage me. However, others
I read voraciously as a child. I grew up in a college town and spent my summers in Middlebury, Vt, where my father taught summer school. That meant I was surrounded by libraries and by people who love to read and discuss literature. During the Vermont summers, one of my favorite places was Middlebury College's rare books room where I read first-edition Louisa May Alcott novels.
The beginning of the development of my education started in Kindergarten. The surrounding was new to me and I felt out of place by having various cultures around me. At the beginning of class, my teacher Ms. Pinto asked me for my name. I didn’t comprehend what she was asking me, therefore I didn’t respond. When she asked other children for their names, one of the english speakers said “Juan”- a traditional name for a Mexican then I understood that she had tried to ask me for my name. While the teacher was explaining what we were going to do in class, I wanted to ask her a question. I did not know the language she was speaking and she did not know mine, therefore I felt as if I couldn’t communicate. I found out that the class contained students from two races which included a smaller amount of American’s and mostly Hispanic. Whenever the teacher asked for answers on the material; only the English speaker children would be able to answer and I was ashamed that even if I wanted to answer I couldn't. The spanish speaking children didn’t seem to mind that we were academically behind, except for me. When the teacher would ask any of the sp...
I have always had a passion to learn. My interest is in political theory and economics, hoping someday to become a lawyer and stateswoman. I realize that in order to reach any of these goals, a college degree is vital. When I in turn reach my goals, I will use them to encourage and uplift my community by investing my time, money, energy, and influence to become a stepping stone for others.
My semester of study abroad is best described as an intense learning experience, without which I feel that my education would have been incomplete. The lessons learned were far different from those I encountered in high school, but of equal or greater importance. I gained new perspective about international affairs and also found I was challenged as an individual to grow intellectually, socially, and emotionally. There is no doubt that this experience has changed me, and I am certainly better for it.
I would come home and start on my homework because then it was something I looked forward to doing. I loved my English class but it was a challenge since I couldn’t speak English at home, it wasn 't allowed. I would get a timeout if I used that language because "Aqui se habla inglés el lenguaje que entendemos todos". When I couldn’t understand some homework I would ask my mom for help on writing and math. I remember one specific night because it was the only night I ever yelled at my mom. I asked for her help and kept asking I began getting frustrated because I wanted an A in my homework. She yelled while crying "No se ingles, perdoname hija soy mensa" and I yelled back "I need you to know English. Why can 't you!" I ended up staying up late and heard her cry in her room. I got an A on my homework, but that A didn 't matter anymore I hurt my mom. Kids with parents who cannot speak English suffer a lot from having to do their homework on their own, this affects us in our academic growth and self-esteem. I grew up tutoring myself new words, I had to purchase my first dictionary at age 12 in order to learn new words and not feel dumb in class. My mom would come around and ask if I needed help (after that argument we had) I would say no with a smile on my face just to reassure her I knew what I was doing, but I really had no
From as early as I can remember I have always loved learning. When I was younger, before I started any form of formal education, I remember always wanting to know what was going on and being a part of everything. My mom ran a day care in our home when I was growing up and I think that is what may have sparked my love of learning initially. She had kids of all pre-kindergarten ages and she has told me that I always looked up to the older kids and wanted to be doing everything they were doing. I think this had to do with the fact that I always wanted to learn and make sure that I was doing my best. Once I got into school, the desire to learn just increased. Though there were a few times, mostly in college, where I did not know if I was going to be able to push through and continue to learn at the high level I had set for myself. As I look back through my schooling I can see the highs and lows all the way from pre-school to college.
When I first started school, I really didn’t know any English. It was hard because none of the kids knew what I was saying, and sometimes the teachers didn’t understand what I was saying. I was put in those ELL classes where they teach you English. The room they would take us to was full of pictures to teach us English, and they would make us sit on a red carpet and teach us how to read and write. When I would go back to regular class, I would have to try harder than the other students. I would have to study a little more and work a little harder with reading and writing if I wanted to be in the same level as the other kids in my class. when I got to third grade I took a test for my English and past it I didn’t have to go to does ELL classes anymore because I passed the test, and it felt great knowing that I wouldn’t have to take those classes no more.
My parents arrived in the United States hoping for a better future not for themselves, but for the baby they carried in their arms. We would often move from relatives ' houses since my parents couldn’t afford renting an apartment themselves. We were fortunate enough to have caring relatives who didn 't mind us living with them since they knew the hardships we were going through. I grew up in a household where only Spanish was spoken given that both my parents didn’t speak any English at all. When I was in kindergarten, my teacher was afraid that I would be behind the rest of my classmates, given that I only spoke Spanish fluently. I was fortunate to receive free tutoring from my kindergarten teacher. We would often read books together until