Personal Narrative: El Paso, Texas

El Paso, Texas is a relatively large city with a small town attitude. It is one of those cities that grows on you. I embrace the laid back lifestyle and bi-cultural environment - it’s given me an opportunity to develop a unique bicultural identity that influences my motivation to succeed. Especially, being the daughter of an immigrant that upholds Mexican culture. The majority of the population is hispanic, which gave me the sense of mexican traditions that I would share with my family in Mexico. Growing up bilingual ironically provided me comfort in the community. Also, the efforts of the community are being made to modernize and improve the city.

When I was growing up, stability was something that came and went in the blink of an eye. We

lived a day-to-day lifestyle, feeling blessed when one more day passed that we didn’t receive financial instability. As a first-generation student, a college degree meant stability. It meant financial freedom with a modest salary and a 401(k). It meant not having anxiety at every checkout after too many times of walking away from our cart of groceries because mother’s card was declined. Even though my parents didn’t have any experience with colleges, getting scholarships, or have the social capital to pull strings at a major university, they worked tirelessly to both instill a strong work ethic in me and to learn everything they could about how to succeed after high school.
For me, being a first-generation college graduate, and in fact, the first woman in my extended family to attend and graduate college, was a really big deal. I knew, being the eldest of my siblings and cousins, that I was setting an example for my family. Wanting to set a good example for them and to make my parents proud was a driver for me when I was younger, and still drives me today.
El Paso has provided me a secure attachment to my heritage, while giving me a motivational push to strive to be better. My parents did not attend college, therefore, making me a first generation college student. If it wasn’t for experiencing financial struggle and instability then it wouldn’t have motivated me as much as I am today. Though, my parents never directly imposed for me to try in school, their actions and experienced made me view that it is important to strive to as best as you can be.