On July 5, 2005 I entered the United States of America. At the age of 6, I was placed a grade lower than I was supposed to be in. During the first few years in the U.S, I had to work extra hard to catch up. English was a challenge among my family. It had always been hard to watch my parents struggle with English and made me realize how valuable education was. It inspired me to learn and strive for academic success from a young age. Being the oldest child in the family, I was expected to be a role model to my younger siblings. It was a challenge and is still a challenge. I can still remember the moment when my ELL teacher came into my classroom and asked me if I wanted to skip second grade and head onto third grade. Without any hesitation I accepted the offer, I knew I was behind and wanted to catch up. One of the …show more content…
biggest challenge I faced was having no academic support growing up. My parents didn’t have any knowledge to help me with tough assignments, I had to do it all by myself. There had been times where I understood nothing and all I can do is cry. It all shifted when I moved from North Carolina to Iowa. It was where I met my Talented and Gifted (TAG) teacher, Mrs. Robinson. She saw something in me and had always pushed me to go beyond my limits. Through TAG, I participated in Mock Trial tournaments, and National History Day in middle school.
Mock Trial was difficult since I had to speak in front of people, and at the same time be able to quickly defend my side. My last tournament was a memorable one as I won an award for outstanding attorney which reflected the hard work and effort I’ve put into it. National History Day was one of the hardest things I’ve done till this day. My family didn’t understand what History Day was, and I couldn’t explain it to them either. The only physical support I had was Mrs. Robinson, who was there with me every step of the way. I invested my in History Day by staying after school every day, going back to school on weekends, and working over Thanksgiving and Christmas break. I was disappointed year after year when I didn’t advance to state, but it never stopped me from trying. Despite all the stress and pressure I received from classes during my freshmen year, I still held onto History Day. It was my fourth and last time competing with my documentary “Neglected Responsibilities for Hmong Rights in the Secret War,” where I placed fourth at the state
competition. Moving from Iowa to Minnesota was another challenge that I had to face. The first year was hard, transitioning from a small town to a big city. I had to restart the cycle again. This time I was more prepared as I took on classes that petrified me, and joined clubs that I took interest in. I have never regretted taking my AP English class. It was a risk that I was willing to take and it has greatly improved my writing. I took on a handful of extracurricular activities such as National Honor Society, College Possible, and Big Brother Big Sister High School Leadership Council. I wanted to devote my time to these programs that would help enhance my future. All of these activities has pushed me out of my comfort zone and is a big factor on my academic success. These programs have encouraged me to take college level courses during my senior year and push myself harder. Ten years later and I’m almost finished with high school and planning to attend college. As a first generation college student, the best thing I could give back to my family is to be a positive role model to my younger siblings and my community. My aspirations developed from my academic struggles and the inspiration I get from people surrounding me.
Affected by my family, my background, and everything around me, I was born in a family who is the first generation to get here. My grandmother, and my parents, along with some other relatives, moved here in search of better opportunities, like those from other countries for the same idea. They started out fresh but had a hard time to get started, when I was little, I assumed it had to be somewhat easy, but for people who do not know English it is like starting from scratch, but they did well, they’ve made it.
I had surgery to correct a vision problem, and ear tubes to help with ear infections. By intervening with these issues, contribute a lot to catching up with my peers. My parents, especially my mother, were deeply involved in helping me succeed. She attended meetings, keep informed on my progress, and most importantly was my biggest support system. Even from an early age, I knew how important parental involvement in education was. The fact that people cared about me succeeding, was all the motivation, I needed.
When I was twelve, my parents moved to the United States to work and make a better life for me while I stayed behind with my grandparents. When I graduated high school, my mom asked me if I wanted to come to live in the United States. I missed my parents and wanted a new and exciting experience to challenge me and help me grow. Thus, my journey began.
From the age of thirteen until eighteen, I was in school. I received my series seven license at fourteen, then my bachelor's degree at fifteen, an M.B.A at seventeen, and became a C.P.A. at eighteen. When I came back to California, I was fluent in five languages, Japanese, Spanish, Portuguese, and French, not to mention English. My parents then knew that their money was well spent, and found a respect for my intelligence that was abundant.
This was back in November 2007, in India. I was 12 years old. I was enjoying my normal life. But I didn’t know that my life will change surprisingly. One day I came home from the school and my parents made decision of moving to the United States. I was totally amazed at that moment. My parents wanted move so that me and my sister can have a better life, education, and opportunity.
As the eldest, I’m expected to be a good example for my younger siblings and do right by them. Being responsible is apart of being the older sibling and my first job was where I got my first real taste at being responsible. The first job I ever had was at a pool, where I was expected to be on time, explain the rules of the pool , and keep track of the entrance fees. It was a pretty simple job much like Esperanza's first job. She got a job at the local photo print shop because she needed money and she wanted “an easy job [like] the kind other kids had (Cisneros
Today, people are categorized as either smart or in need of extra help. I was one of the people who were categorized as somebody who needed "extra help" in the third grade. In the third grade, I had a challenge with reading and writing but at the same time I was seen as the best student in the class. When I was in the third grade my sister was in the fourth grade and she was the opposite of me. My older sister has always been the best at math, reading, and writing, my parents always said, "I should learn from her." Believe it or not, it affected me in many ways, I felt as if I was a failure to the family every time I brought home a test that I did terribly in. My sister is the first to drive, work at the age of 16, and the first to
It was the middle of my sophomore year in high school, Rockville High School (CT) was a good school you just needed to be involved and do your own thing, grab a couple friends along the way too. It was a November night and mom came home and brought my sister and I downstairs, she asked us that how would we feel about moving somewhere south. I was all in for the idea new state, new school, new faces, and new friends. It wasn’t going to be official until April. We put the house on the market and we got interests instantly. April came around and Mom was the first to leave the house while Penny and I moved with dad for the remainder of the school year, Penny was the second one to go she left on Memorial Day weekend so that makes me the last one
All the people around me were excited and were in a very festive mood; and they all were perfectly allowed to do so. After all, it was the Fourth of July, Independence Day, and my birthday. I had a very pleasant feeling as I strolled through the row of tents at the beach with my friends by my side, as I observed countless people enjoying themselves under the summer sun in the commotion of the small festival. The city was quite festive – decorated by splashes of red, white, and blue everywhere. People occasionally wore a plastic Uncle Sam’s hat, wore patriotic boardshorts, or somehow showed off how American they were proud to be. It was a wonderful feeling and it was by far the best birthday that
At age 10 my mother started worked every day and I would be the ones to get my siblings from school. My father was rarely there so I would clean and take care of my brothers and sister and pick them up from school. I always had to deal with problems in my life starting with bullying.
When I was sixteen, I emigrated with my mother from Hong Kong to United States. The obstacles we faced due to language barrier seemed to isolate us from the world we once were part of. Adapting to this society was harsh for me, but more difficult for my mother. Despite our troubles as newcomers, my mother still tried to support me in school and pursue an aviation career, and I learnt to be independence and take responsibility for myself from watching my mom.
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 mom is most determined, persistent and hardworking person you will ever meet. So she finally decided to go back to school to become a nurse. This was her dream job so of course us kids did everything we could to help her out. I babysat while my brother and sister would do chores around the house and we would leave her alone to study and finish homework.
Growing up with two older brothers taught me to be unselfish, patient, and respectful. Being the youngest of three, I learned I would not always get what I wanted. I would have to be patient and wait my turn for a lot of things, such as the telephone and bathroom. I was glad that I was able to grow up with siblings to teach me these lifelong lessons. All three of us had to be respectful of each other or we would risk getting in trouble with my parents.
Motivation plays a vast role in each and every one of our lives. It is the intrinsic or external drive that causes us to get up and move to accomplish our ultimate goals. There are many factors that help shape our motivation and drives. Researchers like Alfred Adler have analyzed the effect of a person’s birth order on their personality. Upon personally taking the birth order personality inventory, my score indicated that my psychological birth order was being the first-born, which is in fact true. According to Adler, the first- born is typically directive, goal-oriented, and high achieving due to very high expectations from parents. This can completely be applied to my life. Since I was enrolled in grade school, my parents have pushed me to strive and be successful in school. They have always had high expectation for me and I have always felt obligated to fulfill their expectations. One of my major motivations to get good grades and be good in school was making my parents proud and not letting them down. Another aspects that can shape personality according to Adler, is having an abundant amount of responsibility that comes with being the first-born. In my life, I can also relate to this aspect. My parents held strong their high expectations because they expected me to set good examples for my younger siblings. The idea of my sibling looking up to my every move became engraved in me. At times it did feel overwhelming and stressful to think if I feel into bad influences, so would my brothers. This served for me as a major motivator to stay above the influence and try my best in everything I do at all times. I can honestly say that having younger siblings shaped who I am today tremendously. If I never feel i...