My World (Personal Statement)

     Where do I come from? The short answer in a family of four living in Southern California, but the long answer is a little different. My lineage is interwoven. Don’t worry my parents aren’t cousins. My family tree is interwoven because my maternal and paternal sides are from the same small town in Mexico, so the interweaving began many generations ago. But what makes my case special is that my grandfathers were best friends back in Mexico before my parents were even born. My grandparents all knew each other very well and all made the move to California at about the same time. Once in California my paternal grandfather was the first to find work, and then he helped my maternal grandfather get a job at the same place. They both worked hard and were able to get better paying jobs, better houses, and so on.  So from this point on the families remained in contact, but not as close as before. At this point my parents grew up essentially separate from each other, and then would later fall in love when they “met” as teenagers.          
       
My family is literally one huge one. I mean I have double aunts and everything. So what that means to me is that we are a lot closer than most. This means that as a young scholar there are more loving faces encouraging you to do your best and then sometimes congratulating you with money when you do well, which is not expected but is very nice to receive. With this tight-knit family I have more fans, and this makes me want to show all of them what I can do.      

My family is full of hard workers. My paternal grandfather, Humberto, is still working even though he could have retired about 12 years ago. My father, Ricardo, frequently skips lunch or worker overtime to make sure the job gets done, and when he’s not at work he’s fixing up our house or the house of a family member or family friend. I could go on and on really, but I won’t because Hispanic names get hard to spell. Anyways, you can see, working hard comes natural to me.. The good thing about my family is that because working hard is natural to us, we don’t feel pressured to do it. For example, my parents never needed to tell my sister and I to do our homework because we just did it. We knew it had to be done so we did it. My parents never told me I need to go to college, but I am applying because I know that I need to go in order to get the job I want. I want to work in a hospital. I want to be a part of the administrative/secretarial section and  preferably pediatrics. I say pediatrics because after seeing my baby cousin, who not only was premature but also has Down Syndrome and a heart problem, in and out of the hospital since birth, I just want to help sick babies and children.                              

The world I come from is one of love and encouragement and togetherness. It is a world where you always feel at home when you stay at a relatives house. It is a world where everyone always notices your hard work and effort gets noticed. It is a world  that has shaped me into the person I am today. It is my world.