At the youthful age of nine, my parents underwent divorce proceedings. This drastically affected my life as I watched my familiar surroundings turn upside down on itself. What transpired after those series of events directly impacted my thoughts on my place within my family, as well as my views of the world. Much like Janette Goodwin wrote in her essay entitled “Moving on Up,” my family was considered middle-class by societies standards Goodwin(20). I lived in a two parent household with both parents gainfully employed, however, my family was not without its struggles. My father was an alcoholic who sometimes put his needs before that of his family’s while my mother suffered from severe co-dependency issues and as a result, allowed the physical and mental abuse apportioned by my father to go unchecked. Henceforth, this lead to a very destructive cycle for my family, often times resulting in my siblings and I becoming unwilling participants in situations children should never have to deal …show more content…
I believed, for such a long period of time, that this was what was in store for me. I saw the future reflection of a failure staring back at me when I would look in the mirror. I watched my father work on dead-end job after another just to make ends meet, and after their divorce, I watched my mother work multiple jobs just to support her family. What ultimately lead to the collapse of their marriage is something I’ve only received bits and pieces of, but the effect that it had on my mother was entirely transformational. I saw her go from, what I can only describe as a “battered woman”, to someone with a plan in life. Having been faced with the reality that she was now going to have to assume the mantle of both caregiver and provider to her children, she set out to conquer the challenge by taking on an additional role, that of a student.
During my middle school years, my mother worked at least two full time jobs as well as a few part time jobs to provide for her family and pay for her schooling. Much like in Rodriguez’s story entitled “The Meaning of Work,” I saw my mom’s efforts parallel his father’s in her dedication to provide a better future for her family Rodriguez(17). This effectively pushed me to attain, by any means necessary,