Personal Statement
Growing up in a Hispanic culture and being the only woman in my family meant high expectations for me to follow. I surprised many people and my relatives because instead of becoming a housewife to maintain and clean the house everyday as a full time job for my entire life, which is traditional in my family, I plan to pursue a major in psychology and go to college. However, my parents do not expect me to follow our family traditions. I am grateful that my parents are supportive with my life decisions and career goals as long as I dedicate myself to the pursuit of my happiness and success.
In my family, mostly all my older female cousins and aunts dropped school at my age and believed that having two part time jobs or maintaining the house clean was their only option in life. I grew up seeing how much they struggled in their jobs or complain that they must go back home and cook for their husbands and stay with their children. My mother was part of this category and I did not wanted to follow their lifestyles. I explained to my parents of my dreams of success and goals. At first I thought they were going to get upset and tell me that my place as a woman is being at home. However, they decided to support me and break the family tradition.
My mother took me to church events and retreats where psychologists like Sandy Caldera were present. As I attended and met several psychologists, they inspired me to study the field of psychology and purse a career. I observed of how professional their actions were when dealing with situations and people which created more inspiration for me. My parents noticed my excitement for this career and to help me reach my goals, they did not expect from me to work at young age or worry about the house chores, however, I did seek work and maintain the house clean. What my parents expected from me is to continue my education, graduate, and go to college to pursue my career. In order for this to happen, my parents arranged several meetings with my counselors and teachers asking of my academic progress, participating in school district’s meetings, seeking more information about college and what are the best options for me to continue education. They would look over my school schedule and made sure that I was taking the a-g requirements courses for college. Any family or friend invitation was denied if I did not finish my homework. My parents made a small office space for me at home and the purpose of this was for me to dedicate my homework in that space and to focus on my work. As this was happening, my relatives judged my parents differently. They believed that my parents were going overboard with my education and that I should only graduate high school and seek a part time job and continue life like the rest of my cousins and aunts. My parents were not going overboard with my life. They were preparing me for college.
It is now my last year of high school which means that I will soon become independent and must start making my own decisions and dedicate to them. I give a lot of credits to my parents for supporting me and raising me different from my family’s tradition. The sacrifices that they have done for me such as my dad for being the only man working in the house and never letting our family down. My mother, for attending school meetings to get inform of what I will need for college. The encouragement of my parents has given me so much strength to overcome obstacles in life. I am the only woman in my family and person that has the mindset of continuing education and going to college. I understand that my career goal sounds impossible to my family members but I will not hesitate and allow negative comments to bring me down what my parents have given me: a valuable support that I will never receive from no one else but only from them.
In my family, mostly all my older female cousins and aunts dropped school at my age and believed that having two part time jobs or maintaining the house clean was their only option in life. I grew up seeing how much they struggled in their jobs or complain that they must go back home and cook for their husbands and stay with their children. My mother was part of this category and I did not wanted to follow their lifestyles. I explained to my parents of my dreams of success and goals. At first I thought they were going to get upset and tell me that my place as a woman is being at home. However, they decided to support me and break the family tradition.
My mother took me to church events and retreats where psychologists like Sandy Caldera were present. As I attended and met several psychologists, they inspired me to study the field of psychology and purse a career. I observed of how professional their actions were when dealing with situations and people which created more inspiration for me. My parents noticed my excitement for this career and to help me reach my goals, they did not expect from me to work at young age or worry about the house chores, however, I did seek work and maintain the house clean. What my parents expected from me is to continue my education, graduate, and go to college to pursue my career. In order for this to happen, my parents arranged several meetings with my counselors and teachers asking of my academic progress, participating in school district’s meetings, seeking more information about college and what are the best options for me to continue education. They would look over my school schedule and made sure that I was taking the a-g requirements courses for college. Any family or friend invitation was denied if I did not finish my homework. My parents made a small office space for me at home and the purpose of this was for me to dedicate my homework in that space and to focus on my work. As this was happening, my relatives judged my parents differently. They believed that my parents were going overboard with my education and that I should only graduate high school and seek a part time job and continue life like the rest of my cousins and aunts. My parents were not going overboard with my life. They were preparing me for college.
It is now my last year of high school which means that I will soon become independent and must start making my own decisions and dedicate to them. I give a lot of credits to my parents for supporting me and raising me different from my family’s tradition. The sacrifices that they have done for me such as my dad for being the only man working in the house and never letting our family down. My mother, for attending school meetings to get inform of what I will need for college. The encouragement of my parents has given me so much strength to overcome obstacles in life. I am the only woman in my family and person that has the mindset of continuing education and going to college. I understand that my career goal sounds impossible to my family members but I will not hesitate and allow negative comments to bring me down what my parents have given me: a valuable support that I will never receive from no one else but only from them.