A Balance Between My Aspiration and Family Expectations

Family is one of the most important things I value in my life. My family members are the ones who have defined and mold me into who I am today. My mother’s dedication and hard work have taught me to be persistent and to be a hard worker too.

However, family is also filled with several comprises and challenges. One of the biggest challenges I have encountered is explain my decision to attend graduate school. I am always bombarded with questions: why graduate school and what can you do with a doctoral degree. After numerous attempts to patiently explain and answer their questions, I now try to avoid the topic of graduate school or my career path.

Throughout my educational career, it has been challenging trying to straddle the fence between my identity as a Mexican American—holding strong to the responsibility and expectations of my Mexican heritage placed on me by my parents— and keeping my personal goals and future aspirations intact. However, now I choose to challenge these cultural beliefs. I not only strive for higher education because I refuse to let my cultural expectations hinder my success and expectations for myself, but I strive for higher education in order to empower Latina women, low- income, and minority students to strive for higher education.

My decision to attend graduate school is not only to challenge and empower students, but also to make changes in our education system. I want to make changes in our education system in order to give students the opportunities and proper mentorship to succeed. I want to help my community and similar communities. My passion to make changes has derived from my own childhood experiences. From my childhood experience, I was angered to see that most of my education have been taught base on the banking model concept and memorization rather than challenging students to think critically. I was also angered to see how the tracking system and constant testing created barriers and discourage several of my classmates from accomplish their dreams and goals. As I became older, my goal was solidified after learning that this is an issue affecting many first generation Latinos in the U.S. For this reason, I am adamant in my dreams in completing higher education in order to implement policy that ensure students receive the support and opportunities to succeed rather hindering them from succeeding. In making changes in the education system, I want to address issues Latinos face in the educational system. I want to mentor and inspire students to continue pursuing their dreams rather than letting barriers hinder them from succeeding. My determination is to guide students and help pave the way for them in the future to pursue higher education. These are my reasons why I attend graduate school and continue to push forward, and maybe some day I hope my family understands why I also decided this career path.

- Yasmin Rodriguez-Escutia is the K-12 Chair for ELPA LEADS.