College Admissions Essay: My Father Who Changed My Life

My father was born in Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico, and illegally immigrated alone to the United States when he was 19 in search of a job to help support his family. My mother was born in the United States, but both her parents were from Mexico. She grew up in a small, one-bedroom house along with her parents, and three other siblings. My parents met in Dallas, Texas, and they got married two months later. My mom legalized my dad’s immigration status when they got married. Shortly after I was born, they moved back to San Antonio to be with the rest of my mom’s family. When I was 4 years old, they separated; however, they both agreed that in order for my brother and I to grow up with both a mother AND a father, they would continue to co-parent …show more content…
I always knew I wanted to get a higher education, and I lived by this advice. I have had A honor roll for as long as I can remember, and school always comes first. That one sentence has formed my aspirations and led to my academic successes. Many people say that motivation should come from within, not from others. However, I feel those people don't understand my culture. I am motivated by making my family proud, and by making all their sacrifices for me worth it. I have been raised to believe that I am a reflection of my parents, and I want to reflect the way they have always put me and my education before their needs. Both parents, but especially my mom, sacrifices her money and time to drive me to every program, pay all tuitions, buy me a laptop, business attire, and anything else I may need to be successful. I believe education is the solution to all the problems in my community. I do not see education as simply, “a way out,” but as an opportunity to obtain a degree and give back to my community. My mother set extremely high expectations for me from a very young age and because of that, I know that I will attend a university. There has never been any other choice for me, and I feel that if administrators, and the community as a whole, also set these expectations from a young age, all students would …show more content…
As I've gotten older, our financial situation has gotten better, but my family still struggles with debt. I know this will make attending USC very difficult, since I can’t really rely on my parents to help me pay for the expenses of higher education. However, I plan to work hard and try to find other ways to pay for college. A lack of money has always been an obstacle for me, but it has never stopped me. I have participated in many academic and leadership programs over the years and it has not been easy for my family to pay for them. To attend a week long program in Colorado, my mom took the money from the water, electric, car, and cable bills, and bought about $1,400 worth of World's Finest chocolate bars to sell. We had to sell almost 3,000 chocolate bars, but being able to pay the tuition and airfare of the program was worth it. I don't give up on a goal simply because there isn't money to achieve it; I just work harder to make it happen. I never missed a meal, but when I was very young, I remember my diet mostly consisted of ramen noodles, cereal, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. However, my mom has always shielded us from financial troubles. When I was around 12, I began to ask her questions like, "how much do we pay for rent" and "how much money do we get from food stamps?" These questions always upset my mom because she said those were adult problems and