Insecurities due to cultural identity, fear, and being out of place lead to internal and external struggles that make it increasingly difficult for one to blend and adapt to their environment; this paper, furthermore, will be about my own internal and external struggles in respect to my experiences in my first year of college, and my experiences with the homeless and the poor, and my experiences in my trip overseas to China. In Richard Rodriguez 's essay “Achievement of Desire, ” he gives his insight about the difficulties of balancing life in the academic world in pursuit of higher education and the life of a working class family. Internal struggles like confusion tremendously affected Rodriguez, as he found no foot in either place, for in
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Rodriguez loses all sense of self, cutting off the connection he had with his family. After going away to school, he recalls how at Christmas break, he and his parents were, “lacking the same words to develop our sentences and to shape our interests, what was there to say?” and that “ one was almost grateful for the family crisis that there was much to discuss” (Rodriguez Pg. *). Furthermore, he also did not take advantage of any of the more worldly advice that his parents had to offer, later admitting, “stupidly I took for granted their enormous amount of native intelligence” (Rodriguez Pg. *). Rodriguez essentially was suddenly put into a novel, stable environment of school, entering it “barely able to speak English” (Rodriguez Pg. *). With the working environment back at home gone, he is at school, where Rodriguez is put into a “mental calm,” (Rodriguez Pg. *), as well as where he is taught to “emphasize the value of reflection that opens a space between thinking and immediate action” (Rodriguez Pg. *). Ironically, Rodriguez will never truly reach the goal he has …show more content…
High school was more relaxed, where my day and future path was structured and pre-determined. Upon entering Boston University, however, there were changes, where I was given a sudden burst of freedom to make my decisions in regards to my education, but I still found it fairly easy to properly balance and embrace my new environment, and at the same time excel in my studies; this, however, cannot always be true for others. Unlike Rodriguez and perhaps others, I had self-respect for myself and for my parents, not taking them for granted, no matter if they didn 't know English; my parents, furthermore, provided me with everything I needed, whether it is a house, a car, or good food for my time at college. Though I didn 't experience the same issues that Rodriguez did when growing up, since I grew in a good neighborhood, where all of my predominantly "white" classmates supported me in my every endeavor at high school, the principle learned is the same. When I first entered the college environment, I still had to try to balance my new life with the life that I came from, and I ended up adjusting to that new life. I, as Rodriguez, know that there is more to an education than just books and facts, for it is imperative to comprehend that that life itself is an education, and so much more can be learned from the wisdom of our parents. In the final analysis, the quest for knowledge will never
Rodriguez loses all sense of self, cutting off the connection he had with his family. After going away to school, he recalls how at Christmas break, he and his parents were, “lacking the same words to develop our sentences and to shape our interests, what was there to say?” and that “ one was almost grateful for the family crisis that there was much to discuss” (Rodriguez Pg. *). Furthermore, he also did not take advantage of any of the more worldly advice that his parents had to offer, later admitting, “stupidly I took for granted their enormous amount of native intelligence” (Rodriguez Pg. *). Rodriguez essentially was suddenly put into a novel, stable environment of school, entering it “barely able to speak English” (Rodriguez Pg. *). With the working environment back at home gone, he is at school, where Rodriguez is put into a “mental calm,” (Rodriguez Pg. *), as well as where he is taught to “emphasize the value of reflection that opens a space between thinking and immediate action” (Rodriguez Pg. *). Ironically, Rodriguez will never truly reach the goal he has …show more content…
High school was more relaxed, where my day and future path was structured and pre-determined. Upon entering Boston University, however, there were changes, where I was given a sudden burst of freedom to make my decisions in regards to my education, but I still found it fairly easy to properly balance and embrace my new environment, and at the same time excel in my studies; this, however, cannot always be true for others. Unlike Rodriguez and perhaps others, I had self-respect for myself and for my parents, not taking them for granted, no matter if they didn 't know English; my parents, furthermore, provided me with everything I needed, whether it is a house, a car, or good food for my time at college. Though I didn 't experience the same issues that Rodriguez did when growing up, since I grew in a good neighborhood, where all of my predominantly "white" classmates supported me in my every endeavor at high school, the principle learned is the same. When I first entered the college environment, I still had to try to balance my new life with the life that I came from, and I ended up adjusting to that new life. I, as Rodriguez, know that there is more to an education than just books and facts, for it is imperative to comprehend that that life itself is an education, and so much more can be learned from the wisdom of our parents. In the final analysis, the quest for knowledge will never