My father, one of eight children, was raised in a two room shack in the Appalachia. He struggled to be more as he grew up. He enlisted in the Army, traveling the world. He made it his goal to become as educated as possible. He received two Master 's degrees and received his Ph.D. in languages from the University of Pennsylvania in 1971. My mother came from a small town, blue collar family of 4 children raised by two immigrants. She has two Master 's degrees and several state certifications. The value of everything not being taken for granted was instilled in her from an early age. The value of education was a high priority in her family also. My parents met in Mexico while they were both attending the Universidad de America in the late 1960 's.…
One person that has had an impact today in my life is my dad. He has taught me right from wrong. He has taught me to be honest and respectful to anyone. He has told me about why we celebrate what we celebrate. That's why he has had an impact on who I am today.…
The persons who has a positive influence in my life are my parents. They influence me by being a strong minded role models and never given up hope through my teenager stage and helping me choosing the right path. My parents are originally from a country of communist and had fled to find freedom. They went through a lot of conflicts and was held captive in refugee camp before they came to America. When they arrive in America with no knowledge and not even fluent with English language, they still manage to survive in a country that their not familiar with and still uphold to raise a family.…
I was born in the suburbs of the Bronx and raised in the Brooklyn, New York. At a young age, I never understood the amount of hard work my parents had gone through to raise me and give me a great life I have today. They emigrated from South Korea to this country in hopes of the American dream. They had their definition of the American dream as working hard to become successful. They were strong believers in that hard work would result in great results and rewards. My parents took huge sacrifices in order to make it to this great nation. They had left their families, their jobs, and their culture to start a new life. My father went from being a chemical engineer to making a small living as a delivery man for a clothing company while my mother worked as nurse in a small clinic in downtown Brooklyn. We didn’t live in the best of neighborhoods, but it was sufficient enough to provide shelter and food. It took a lot of pain and long hours for my parents to provide for me and they have taught me the most crucial life lessons. They told me that the most important lesson is life is to always put other people before you. They explained how if you are always there to help others and be there for another person, they will return the favor to you. This helped shaped my identity as to be a caring person who is always willing to help out those in need. Throughout the rest of my life, I would encounter this life lessons…
Sixty two years ago, my Grandfather found himself in a whole with his life. He was living in Genova, Italy with about one hundred dollars to his name. He had just gotten married to my Grandma, and was still living in his mother’s house at the time. He had no job, which means no money was coming in. Getting a job at this time was nearly impossible. Knowing that he had so much more potential, at such a young age, he decided to pack up and leave everything with his wife to start a new life in America. My Grandfather and Grandmother spent days and days on a boat to get to the land of opportunities. Once they arrived they got exactly what they were looking for. Opportunities. In order to support his new wife, my Grandfather worked all day everyday.…
Being a natural born citizen to immigrant parents, It has been instilled in me at a young age that good education and determination is the key to success, and that failure is never an option. Both of my parents have urged me to always strive for greatness and success by placing high expectations of myself.…
However, it was a rough start for my great-grandfather. The language barrier was a major obstacle and job options for foreigners were very limited; the only job available to him was working at a laundromat. 10 years later, my great-grandmother joined him in the United States. Due to the difficulty of getting permission to come to the United States, and the fear of not being able to support them in the US, she was forced to leave her children behind in China; three daughters and one son. My great-grandmother was a very intelligent woman, and when she was finally able to contact her husband she settled in San Francisco, she was disappointed to discover him working such a low paying job. At her insistence, together, they decided to open a restaurant, and slowly their dreams of a new future began to emerge.…
Foremost, I grew up with parents who moved from the Dominican Republic and never had a college education. The time and dedication they take to do their jobs is incredible. There are times where I don’t get to see my father for weeks being he’s too focused on his job. On one occasion my father had to work for almost 48 hours straight due to a broken machine in his workplace. When I did see him, he was completely exhausted he looked as if he were a walking corpse. Dark shade of purple under his eyes, dragging his feet across the floor. I never want to see my father as rough as he was again. I don’t think that’s the life anyone wants. It makes me want to go further than they have gone. Not only seeing, but actually experiencing what they go through opened my eyes on how far you can go…
My dad was fifteen years when he did something I can never even imagine about doing; he crossed the border. He sacrificed so much in order to live a better life, without him I would not be writing this essay right now. My mother is a first generation Mexican-American, like myself, and also experienced the affects of her parents wanting more for their family. Fortunately for us, our family has strived in today’s society and would not be where we are without hardwork and dedication.…
As a child I grew up in a poor household. Through the years my father struggled to pay the bills and we were living from month to month. I remember one time he came home and he was ecstatic because he made $100 that week. He worked around the clock to make ends meet. He would do any kind of side job whether it was buffing floors at his church or fixing friends cars. At the age of 13 my dad starting hitting the books and studying for his Real Estate exam. He bought the books and studied by himself for about a month before he scheduled his test. Once he became a Realtor he worked around the clock to get his name in the market. As a family we went from lower class to middle class because my father made the decision to do better. His focus was unparalleled, and once he made the decision to become successful, there was no stopping him.…
I was four years old when my family immigrated to the United States from Ukraine. It was a crazy experience and a big life change for all of us. There were many obstacles to be faced living a life completely far away from what we used to call home. It was very difficult to leave my grandparents back in Ukraine. They were a significant source of encouragement for me especially my grandfather. He was my hero. He was the main nurturer who provided a lot of encouragement and support for me in the very hard times of my life. In times of crisis when life felt like a crashing wave, he was the one I always ran to for guidance. Like most immigrants, we didn’t know any English, therefore it was extremely hard to communicate with anyone.…
I am a first generation American born child of an immigrant. I am not Mexican, Latino, Cuban or Filipino; I am the daughter of a Nederlander. My father was raised in Maastricht, a Nazi occupied town in Holland. When he was 19 years old, he won a one way ticket to LaGuardia Airport. Upon arrival he made the decision to assimilate into the American culture. He embraced the language, the traditions and the way of life here in the United States. When I look back and think of my father standing in New York, with no friends, an enormous language barrier, and with little money, I can’t help but admire his passion to be an adult learner. A lifelong learner; for the remainder of his life, he learned what it meant to be an American Citizen. His…
Immediately after reading this quote, all I could visualize was the discomfort and hard work my dad has consumed. Although he wasn’t born in America, the dedication he has accomplished to reach the American Dream has been a journey I have witnessed. Having been born in America was just a head start to my own journey. Working hard for a better future is something that has been ingrained in me by my immigrant father. As a young child, I witnessed my father’s tireless work ethic and drive to accomplish his goals of becoming a proud and productive American citizen. My favorite childhood memory was when he was granted his American citizenship, it was then I realized it does not matter who you are or where you come from. This quote does not only…
Indicate a person who has had a significant influence on you, and describe that influence.…
Through his hard work my father has shown me that nothing in this is impossible in this life. Since he was a child the conditions in which he lived forced him to work to bring food to the table. He worked in the fields collecting corn and planting seeds along with most of his brothers. He never had a chance of going to school or getting a formal education, something he dreamed of doing. Even to this day I see with my own eyes how everyday my father comes home exhausted from working in construction, tired of working under the burning sun. However, every day he raises from his bed at six in the morning to head to the same work that tears him apart everyday with the sole purpose of providing an education for my brothers and me. His continuous struggle has motivated me to continue even in the hardest days, to stay up late finishing homework, to get up in the morning and head to school. To work hard and give my best to each single thing I do. With the sole purpose of making my father proud, to show him that all his endless days of hard work was worth it. To demonstrate to him that it is possible for us to get an education, something he never had the opportunity to do.…