First Draft
Posted: Fri Mar 12, 2010 7:20 am
I just whipped this up, seems like it needs a lot of work but I'm not quite sure what or where...
Looking for an objective take on this PS
“Mi hija, you are stubborn just like your mother. You will never get married with that kind of attitude. Why don’t you settle down with a nice man and start a family?” Not surprisingly, my proposal to pursue a career in law was met with disdain and contempt by my Grandfather. Being a single child in a Hispanic family is hard: especially if you have the misfortune of being a daughter. Although younger generations are changing the tide in our favor, women’s roles in Latino society are mostly delegated to the home. In other words, I am supposed to make babies, not think. (be a mother/not a student)
Growing up in a stereotypical Chicano family has revealed to me exactly what I don’t want for myself. My mother is a prime example of how women can be casualties of an uneducated way of thinking. My mother was taught that family takes precedence over career. Instead of going to college she married my father, suffered through seven agonizing years of a loveless marriage and lost a lot of self-respect. She and my father separated while I was still an infant and for my entire childhood Uncle Sam put food on the table. I can remember one remarkable Christmas where a wrapped box of Ding Dongs sat triumphantly under the tree in one of our ‘low’ years. As it turns out, a domesticated woman is more of a liability than an asset in the 21st century.
My mother was set up for failure when she traded in her aspirations for those of her father’s. Because she was unable to go back in time and start over, she encouraged me to pursue every academic and extracurricular avenue I possibly could. I started my first job at the age of 12 in order to pay for cello lessons. By the time I graduated high school I worked 30 hours a week, ran track, and played recitals around town. Today I run on an all-academic cross country team, hold two jobs, act as president of the local chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, play with the local symphony, and manage to accomplish it all with a fairly impressive GPA. As tiring as it sounds, I really don’t see how I could have done it any differently. These experiences have helped me to grow as a leader and as a well-balanced person.
I chose to pursue a career in law so that I could be the voice for people who, because of their circumstances, cannot speak for themselves. My mother has taught me so much in such a strange way. Her experiences are only a few out of many that have shown me how mentally and physically damaging passiveness can be. Although we were able to overcome the obstacles presented by our race and gender, there are thousands of people who need help facing their own unique challenges.
Looking for an objective take on this PS
“Mi hija, you are stubborn just like your mother. You will never get married with that kind of attitude. Why don’t you settle down with a nice man and start a family?” Not surprisingly, my proposal to pursue a career in law was met with disdain and contempt by my Grandfather. Being a single child in a Hispanic family is hard: especially if you have the misfortune of being a daughter. Although younger generations are changing the tide in our favor, women’s roles in Latino society are mostly delegated to the home. In other words, I am supposed to make babies, not think. (be a mother/not a student)
Growing up in a stereotypical Chicano family has revealed to me exactly what I don’t want for myself. My mother is a prime example of how women can be casualties of an uneducated way of thinking. My mother was taught that family takes precedence over career. Instead of going to college she married my father, suffered through seven agonizing years of a loveless marriage and lost a lot of self-respect. She and my father separated while I was still an infant and for my entire childhood Uncle Sam put food on the table. I can remember one remarkable Christmas where a wrapped box of Ding Dongs sat triumphantly under the tree in one of our ‘low’ years. As it turns out, a domesticated woman is more of a liability than an asset in the 21st century.
My mother was set up for failure when she traded in her aspirations for those of her father’s. Because she was unable to go back in time and start over, she encouraged me to pursue every academic and extracurricular avenue I possibly could. I started my first job at the age of 12 in order to pay for cello lessons. By the time I graduated high school I worked 30 hours a week, ran track, and played recitals around town. Today I run on an all-academic cross country team, hold two jobs, act as president of the local chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, play with the local symphony, and manage to accomplish it all with a fairly impressive GPA. As tiring as it sounds, I really don’t see how I could have done it any differently. These experiences have helped me to grow as a leader and as a well-balanced person.
I chose to pursue a career in law so that I could be the voice for people who, because of their circumstances, cannot speak for themselves. My mother has taught me so much in such a strange way. Her experiences are only a few out of many that have shown me how mentally and physically damaging passiveness can be. Although we were able to overcome the obstacles presented by our race and gender, there are thousands of people who need help facing their own unique challenges.
