As a little girl I dreamed of becoming an artist. I wanted to share and express myself through paintings and sculptures. This dream has not yet changed, however I express myself in a different way which involves the world of fine dining and pastry cream. Taking that next step into securing my future has been what seems to be an endless journey of hardships, deciding on a career, and finding a way to help my people. As a Navajo woman, I have faced numerous obstacles to finally reach the correct path for my life. College is something my mother had always pushed upon my siblings and I. However, coming from single parent home financial issues has always been topic of discussion. Therefore, I was restricted from going to a big university; instead I attended a community college. High school was nothing compared to college. I was hit with barriers of financial issues, lack of motivation to attend classes, lack of support from family and friends, and trying to balance the surrounding obligations that …show more content…
Recently, I was inducted into the National Technical Honor Society which is a great accomplishment for me. I have learned to value my education more and I wish to keep pursuing my education as I climb the ladder to success. After I graduate from NTU with both degrees I plan on furthering my education to obtain a BA in Business Management, where I look forward on attending Kansas University School of Business. I feel both degrees will assist me in opening up my bakery/restaurant, where I am able to help promote a heathier way of living within the reservation. Being awarded the American Indian College Fund will aid me in paying for my college expenses, such as Lab fees, tuition, meal plan, books, etc. Not only will it help pay for my education but will get me one step closer to my future goals and fulfil my dream of operating my own
College takes a serious toll on people, some are able to strive through and come out on top and some suffer from outside family issues, can’t financially keep up with school or just lack the skills that are needed for higher education. College sometimes just isn’t for everyone; and students can’t handle it all like I couldn’t myself.
Changing my life for an education that will follow me with an eye like an eagle. I decide to attend college for my second time to have the ideal of how to run a business with my Culinary Art Degree. Year of 2011 I revived to blessing my Associated in Culinary Arts and my beautiful daughter. After follow my dream that my grandmother started for me when I was nine made me so happy to graduate. So I decide to go back to college at Strayer University to get my bachelor degree in Business Management that play role in cooking, if you want to open your own restaurant. The Journey whom which, my daughter can continued my ledge from her great grandmother, grandmother, and a mother. That will be the most happily feeling ever.
College life is a journey taken by many high school graduate in effort to explore a higher form of education, and most importantly build a new life outside the boundaries of their families to sustain a long path of toward successful career and to some, building a new family of their own. In the United State we are blessed with an education system that is never available worldwide. Laws are placed to allow every students regardless of ethnicity, gender or class a chance to pursue education in among the most prestigious universities in the world such as Ivy League school as well as many large public universities with many programs. This vast number of education institutions available of every type of students create this big diversity leading the U.S. to be the frontrunner of education in the world.
From the time a child enters preschool, teachers begin asking a common question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” That dreaded query has always haunted me, mostly because the way it was redundantly asked put a ton of pressure on me and my peers. The question was like a rusty nail being hammered into our head’s by society. I continuously had the cliché answers of becoming a doctor, teacher, or a police officer, but with serious reservations. After years of not having a clue, I started to think about what I like to do after the stresses of work and school were gone at the end of the day.
In my community, El Sereno, college is viewed as an option as opposed to it being the next step in life. Most people in my area either begin working or start a family after they graduate from high school. Not always by choice, but in some cases by circumstance. Students in my neighborhood either lack the knowledge, financial support, guidance or even legal status that would otherwise drive them to apply or even go to college. About eighty-percent of students graduated from my high school, but only about twenty-percent ended up attending a four-year university (NINCHE). One of the biggest reasons for student’s low college entrance rate has to deal with their family's socioeconomic
As a first-generation college student, the process of applying to colleges was not only an overwhelming experience, but it was a lonely one. My parents did not understand why I would spend hours perfecting my essay or why I worried too much about paying for college. When college decisions started to come in the mail, I was ecstatic that I got into the
Throughout my life, I had continually believed that once I graduated college, I would engage in an action filled career. I wanted to be a police officer, a firefighter or even an undercover FBI agent. I had planned on studying criminal justice, and I took numerous high school classes based on it. Nevertheless, my plan transformed the summer between my junior and senior years. It was my grandma that influenced me to transform my criminal justice plan into a nursing plan. For most of my life, I may not have acknowledged exactly what I wanted to do when I grew up, but I did know that I sought to help people.
The stereotypical version of the normal life of a teenager proceeding to college would include high academic standards met throughout their high school career and outstanding outside testing scores resulting in automatic entry into the institution of their choice. Many of these individuals have the support of their accomplished family members in the form of financial support. There are those who have not had the luxuries of any easy upbringing but forced to decide between a life with a college degree or full-time employment. For myself I want to have it all and to achieve that I have taken on both.
In the reading “Who Goes to College” written by Cecilia Rodriguez Milanes I was able to see myself in her situation. When she was a senior she had no idea what she was going to do her following year, all she knew was that her parents wanted her to attend college. She always wanted to work, she liked being able to provide for herself but her parents always told her that college would come first. She had no clue of how college worked, what classes she would take or what she would do there. After all the confusion she had of what college truly is, she began to love it. I believe that Cecilia Rodriguez chose the right path, even though she was not completely sure of what she wanted to do she always worked hard and never let any obstacle put her
The process of life begins with a wish. Throughout childhood we are constantly asked what we wish to become when we grow up. Usually the answer is a Doctor or Vet. This was my answer as well. Then I became ill and my life suddenly was altered. I became the girl who was gone almost everyday due to an elusive illness. My illness changed who I was and made me want to help others the way I was helped. I wish to become a Nurse. The process of getting there was not easy. I had to deal with tough things such as missing school, working through my illness, and those things led me to my aspirations today.
It is said that when you fall, get back up, but being raised Hispanic, I was taught not to let anything knock me down; I was taught not to let words hurt me; I was taught not to let anyone deny me of my goals, because of the color of my skin or the heritage of my family. In high school, 50% of the student body is of Hispanic descent and many are too afraid to no longer be a majority. When applying to colleges, I was not intimidated by the demographics indicating that I would be a minority on campus; I want to different; I want to be challenged; I want to look discrimination in the eye as I work my way to a college degree. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, less than 1% of Hispanics manage to earn a Ph.D.; I will use the same ambition my grandparents had when they worked long hours at low wages in order support their families to join that exclusive minority of
The purpose of this study is to explore the unique challenges First-Generation-Latino-Male Students face when adjusting to community colleges in California. Literature has revealed limited information on the unique experiences First-Generation College Students face and their perception of the barriers they face in higher education. As tens-of-thousands of students become the first in their family to embark on the journey through higher education it becomes clear they have taken many different paths to get there and face many different obstacles that continuing-generation students don’t. With the influx of first-generation college student’s campuses are beginning to discover their institutions are underprepared to fully support the needs of
A year ago, my youngest sister Claudia and I decided to go to a beautiful city in Colombia called Santa Marta. We didn't know what to expect, or where to go, which was one of the best feelings ever. We were going to be able to explore a new place. We did some research to find some of the most beautiful places in the area, and many people suggested Tayrona Park. I already knew of Tayrona Park, and I wanted to do some more research to discover some different places. That is where I found Cabo De La Vela. The pictures were beautiful, and it was only four hours from Santa Marta. It was also the perfect place to go kite surfing, something we wanted to try. When I asked some of the people in Santa Marta how to get there, they told me it could be dangerous, and that the two of us girls shouldn't try to go by ourselves. Despite the danger, there was only one thing in my mind. I wanted to have the most amazing experience possible, and I wanted it to be one of the best times of my life. This was an amazing opportunity to do something different with my sister, so we decided to go to both places.
The time to breathe before advancing further in my future projects, the difficult moments instead of discouraging me, these moments give me motivation and the necessary energy to move forward. I am optimist but realistic. My parents taught me that we live in a world that is constantly changing and to succeed we need a smart plan and the ability to adapt and adjust to the changing world environment but more importantly one need to prepare one’s self to succeed. We need discipline and above all an unshakable will to resist difficulties when they happen. “An ongoing work of art” would probably be one of the best ways to describe my life. From very early on in life, I have learn that I can be the artist of my own life through guidance and hard work, I learned that we are the architecture of our life, the artist of our own destiny through work, commitment and determination. Every route taken or not taken will somehow impact our existence and leave a trail like a shooting star in the night sky, the beauty of the trail depends entirely on the nature of our actions in life. This is the first time in my existence I have had the opportunity to write the story of my life in detail. This exercise
It was just an ordinary day. The sun had just set and we were all sitting around the table eating dinner. My mother and father always asked us about our future and what we were hoping to accomplish. My brother and sister always explained how they wanted to go into the air force and be doctor. Of course I would just sit there and think about how I didn’t know what I wanted to be. But this particular night I had an idea of what I wanted to do! So before my mom and dad could get out of their mouth the question, I said “I know what I want to be!”. They all stared and asked what that might be and I replied, “A famous artist!” I said, “I want my paintings and sketchings to be shown worldwide!”. They told me that, that was all good and well but that there was a lot of steps to achieve this goal and that it wasn’t very realistic. But what they didn’t know was that very line pushed me to prove them wrong.