I walk down the narrow hallway towards the kitchen. Approaching was the tiniest kitchen I had ever seen. I look up from my feet and there she is, my mother making breakfast for us. She looks up and smiles. At the time it was only my mother, father, sister and me. A humble little mobile house was our family nest. I sit down at the table next to my dad, my hero. Being a curious little child, I asked my daily dose of questions. “Dad, why did you leave your country to come here?” His answer was always simple, “for you.”  I turned to ask my mother the same question only to get the same answer. I looked at them with a confused expression. What was so special about this country that they would sacrifice everything for me? I used to not understand back then. Of course, just being six years old at the time I didn’t understand many things.

My father came home late exhausted from an entire day of work. My mother sat down with me every night to work on my homework. She walked to the mini library we had and pulled out an “English to Spanish” dictionary. I saw them struggle but not once would they complain. They were always ready to help me.  I thought to myself “wow, all of this for me, for my future.” Coming from a low-income family, hard work was second nature to us. I have always admired their brave actions of coming to a foreign country. Growing with them in their journey has to be one of the best experiences. I was even able to be their personal translator. They have shaped me in so many ways. Although I don’t remember the first few years, I couldn’t have asked for a better life.

Now that I am older, I have better appreciation for my family’s sacrifices. Not being able to see their parents was hard for them. There were times where they wanted to go back to Mexico, but they wouldn’t because of my me and my sibling’s education. Their encouraging words was what pushed me to do good in school. Being a first-generation student, college was a foreign word to me. I didn’t know what college was up until 8th grade. I remember my elementary school counselor coming into our class and talking about higher education but that didn’t really spark anything. Although, I have always loved learning, this was new territory. Being encouraged by my mother to apply into magnet schools was the best thing she could have done. By doing so I was exposed to so much.

My values are rooted back to my parents. They have truly shaped me into the person I am today. I embrace every aspect of my culture because of them. In my family hard work and education were emphasized very much. As the oldest, I have learned to appreciate life for what it is but also to work for what I want for my future. Magnet schools were also a great influence, as they exposed me more to college and universities. Magnet schools also pushed me to do my best and to work for what I want. Family and great schools have shaped every aspect of me in a good manner.