Often, teenagers face barriers and challenges when trying to transition into college to pursue their goals when clashing with their parents’ desires. For example, Sara Smolinsky, a Russian, Jewish immigrant sought to become a teacher, but her father, a strict Jewish rabbi, rejected her dreams. In the movie, “October Sky,” Homer Hickam grew up in the small remote town of Coalwood, W.V., so he’s expected to follow in his father’s footsteps working in the coal mines. Lastly, Rudy Ruettiger, a young man from Joliet, Illinois, fantasized about attending Notre Dame and even joining their famed football team, but his father wanted him to work along with his brothers at the steel mills. Regardless of their generation, these young people struggled against their father’s expectations and despite their challenges, achieved their college degree beginning a new generational tradition. In the 1925 novel Bread Givers, the historical premise that a girl’s biology determined her destiny as Sara Smolinsky soon learned.
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As the youngest daughter of a Russian Jewish family living in America, Sara is expected to follow her Jewish religion’s rigid laws to “honor & obey” and “breed & multiply.” Throughout her childhood, Sara argued with her father’s hypocritical stories justifying his rigid traditions she saw as completely unfair. Instead, she wanted to escape a predestined life and become a “person” attending college and choosing her husband to marry, not her father. Unfortunately, Sara’s older sisters suffered from following their father after he arranged their marriages as a matchmaker with disastrous results. Fania married a gambler, Mashah a fake diamond dealer, and Bessie, the burden bearer, traded responsibilities marrying Zalmon, a fish peddler and widow with six children become a caretaker immediately. In her staunch refusal to “honor and obey” her father, Sara argues with her father over two cents while working at their store one day as the last straw for her no longer able to listen to his constant lectures. So with some money her mother saved, Sara angrily left home and began living a life alone without any others’ support. After realizing there’s no room at her sisters’ home, Sara must find a place to live, a job, and begin school before going to college. Eventually, Sara learned that she has a strong thirst for knowledge and like her father devoting her time and energy to her studies. Six years after leaving home, she found out her mother was dying and paid for her doctor her with the money she won a $1,000 scholarship. Sadly, when mother died, her father quickly remarried the selfish landlady assuming he’d provide for her, but lacking the daughters support she blackmailed Sara for half her wages instead. Although the threatening blackmail left Sara to fear to lose her job, the principle of the school, Hugo Seelig, were drawn to her as they share the same heritage. With her new found happiness, Sara reached out to her aging her father to move in and escape his demanding new wife. Homer, a young man from Coalwood, dreamed of going to college and study rocket engineering. However, the only way for him to go to college was with a sports scholarship and Homer was not athletically inclined. His father expected him to follow in his footsteps and work in the coal mines and forget about his dream of sending rockets into space. But with stong ecouragement his science teacher, Miss Riley, Homer and his friends begin designing model rockets and entered the school science fair. Winning the local science fair was a big step for Homer, chosen by his friends to represent them at the National Science Fair. But his models were stolen, so his father helped him by getting him a replacement nozzle. Homer wins first place at the National Science fair and went on to work at N.A.S.A. as an engineer. Finally, the movie “Rudy,” illustrates a young man with a seemingly impossible dream to play football for Norte Dame university is Rudy Ruettiger. Though Rudy had no strong academic skills, little money, and not athletic ability, he still didn’t want to give up on his dream. His father expectations to work in the
As the youngest daughter of a Russian Jewish family living in America, Sara is expected to follow her Jewish religion’s rigid laws to “honor & obey” and “breed & multiply.” Throughout her childhood, Sara argued with her father’s hypocritical stories justifying his rigid traditions she saw as completely unfair. Instead, she wanted to escape a predestined life and become a “person” attending college and choosing her husband to marry, not her father. Unfortunately, Sara’s older sisters suffered from following their father after he arranged their marriages as a matchmaker with disastrous results. Fania married a gambler, Mashah a fake diamond dealer, and Bessie, the burden bearer, traded responsibilities marrying Zalmon, a fish peddler and widow with six children become a caretaker immediately. In her staunch refusal to “honor and obey” her father, Sara argues with her father over two cents while working at their store one day as the last straw for her no longer able to listen to his constant lectures. So with some money her mother saved, Sara angrily left home and began living a life alone without any others’ support. After realizing there’s no room at her sisters’ home, Sara must find a place to live, a job, and begin school before going to college. Eventually, Sara learned that she has a strong thirst for knowledge and like her father devoting her time and energy to her studies. Six years after leaving home, she found out her mother was dying and paid for her doctor her with the money she won a $1,000 scholarship. Sadly, when mother died, her father quickly remarried the selfish landlady assuming he’d provide for her, but lacking the daughters support she blackmailed Sara for half her wages instead. Although the threatening blackmail left Sara to fear to lose her job, the principle of the school, Hugo Seelig, were drawn to her as they share the same heritage. With her new found happiness, Sara reached out to her aging her father to move in and escape his demanding new wife. Homer, a young man from Coalwood, dreamed of going to college and study rocket engineering. However, the only way for him to go to college was with a sports scholarship and Homer was not athletically inclined. His father expected him to follow in his footsteps and work in the coal mines and forget about his dream of sending rockets into space. But with stong ecouragement his science teacher, Miss Riley, Homer and his friends begin designing model rockets and entered the school science fair. Winning the local science fair was a big step for Homer, chosen by his friends to represent them at the National Science Fair. But his models were stolen, so his father helped him by getting him a replacement nozzle. Homer wins first place at the National Science fair and went on to work at N.A.S.A. as an engineer. Finally, the movie “Rudy,” illustrates a young man with a seemingly impossible dream to play football for Norte Dame university is Rudy Ruettiger. Though Rudy had no strong academic skills, little money, and not athletic ability, he still didn’t want to give up on his dream. His father expectations to work in the