Personal Statement updated
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The document is a personal statement describing the author's difficult childhood growing up in El Salvador without parents and living in poverty, working from a young age to support himself and his grandmother. When he was 11, he immigrated to the US to join his family, not speaking English, and faced culture shock and challenges adjusting. Despite obstacles like his father's deportation, he succeeded in high school due to support from his family and teachers. He is now pursuing higher education to give back by teaching Spanish and history.
Personal Statement updated
- 1. Personal Statement - my History When I was eleven years old, I was living alone. My immediate family had immigrated to the United States, and was in the process of securing passage for me. My situation was not intentional; we were once close, and I hope that one day we can be together again. I am very grateful for all of the opportunities that I now have, and realize the price that my parents and my school have had to pay. Before my birth, my father came to the United States, undocumented, in search of the elusive, and slightly cliché, “American dream.” At four years of age, I remember crying, seeing my mother leave as well. She promised to return for my brother and me, and trusted my relatives to care for us in her absence. Instead, they shunned us, and refused to provide anything. Soon, my brother and I were living by ourselves, working in the fields for $5 a day. School was a welcome break from work, but the opportunity to attend presented itself rarely. For seven years, we had to feed ourselves and our elderly grandmother. She was possibly the only remaining relative who loved us, but at 95 years of age, she was in no position to help. At work, we were allowed to pick food, but risked losing our jobs if we ate it. Sometimes, I would steal bread to survive, a thought that still haunts me. To this day, I regret my actions of stealing food, but if I had not done it, of course, I would not be here alive telling and sharing my humble and simple story. I stole food not only to survive, but also to pay the price of being a poor person. When I was lucky, my breakfast, lunch and dinner, was a tomato and a few homemade tortillas, which were made by my Grandmothers, Armida and Soila. Since we did not have the money to buy bread, our bread was toasted tortillas, which we used to put them inside of out coffee. When I was eleven, my brother joined my parents. Without the extra income, I had to work overtime to provide for my grandmother and myself. A year later, I finally left El Salvador, and joined my family in the US. I spoke no English. Adjusting was difficult; when I met my father for the first time, I struggled to call him “Papa” (Dad). Despite the culture shock, I was the happiest I had ever been – I was well-fed, and had my family and my education. Around this time, my father was arrested by ICE, while walking with me to school. He was later deported. This particular event impacted my well-being because for many years, I became an unhappy person and I was afraid to go outside, fearing that ICE would arrest and deported. I still remember the last couple words of my father, before was taken to one of the ICE retention Center, “Noel (my middle name) don’t follow my path … I want my deportation to serve as motivation to you, your brother and your mother, to make better decisions and to appreciate the people you have around and everything that life has given to you because I do not want you guys to end up like me” – Peita Robles If not for the support of my mother, brother, uncle and some of my high school instructors, I would never have succeeded in high school. My mother Flor, my brother Wilber,
- 2. and my uncle Ivan, they have done their best to feed, motivate, inspire me and to measure that I am moving forward on the right path. I am grateful to some of my high school teachers; John Sobrato, Manuel Acosta, Gordon Smith and Margarito Frias because they have also supported me not only academically and economically, but they have served as a role model to me. When I was a freshman, my PE teacher, Manuel Acosta gave me one of bicycles to ride to school. My principal and vice principal personally paid for my SAT exams. My teachers trusted me with their classroom keys, and allowed me to stay late to study, even after they had left. My 10th grade social science teacher, John Sobrato sparked my interest in American history, and would often discuss historical events with me at length after school. I had the incredible opportunity to work as a teacher’s assistant during the last five years. I’ve helped develop lesson plans, prepared worksheets and notes for class instructors, and tutored English language learners. When I was learning English during my freshman year, my tutors were an integral part of my success. My work has allowed me to give back to the community that helped me, and being exposed to various teaching pedagogy is only a bonus. One of my favorite experiences occurred roughly two years ago, some of my instructors allowed me the opportunity to teach. Also, working as a EOP Mentor, Tutor and as an Academic Couch has made me I realized how challenging and rewarding teaching is. I consider myself extremely fortunate to have the opportunity to teach, mentor and serve as an Academic Couch and most importantly for being able to help our generation to explore their skills and to make this world a better place not only for the current regenerations, but for the future generations. I dream of someday teaching Spanish and History, and eventually hope to become a professor of Spanish, passing my privilege on to others. Without my family and community, I would still be working on a plantation in El Salvador. This has shaped my ambition to study Spanish in college. I never thought that I was going to make it too far. Four (4) years after my arrival, I became the first person in my family to graduate from high school. Now here I am trying to obtain a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree and a PhD in Spanish to work as a Spanish instructor, and eventually support my family and my community.