Mi pasado y mi futuro
“¿Ya limpiaste aquí?”
Every Saturday, since I was little, I get up early to clean the house. My mom, being the house cleaner she is, has had years of experience. Under her professional eye, my work is never finished; she sees dust and dirt where no one else would notice. I think this is her special skill; seeing things where others do not. Unlike the sons who live in the houses she cleans, my mother has planted the seed of passion and dedication in me. In me, she sees a college graduate.
Because of her, I see a future I can be proud of. This is why I rise every Saturday morning, on my own, to clean the house. Every time my hand touches the rag it fuels my desire and passion to become the first in my family to go to college. In cleaning on my hands and knees, I stay humble and get a reminder of the hard life my mother endures every day.
My mom always talks to me about her experience in Mexico. As a child, she had almost nothing. She prayed to god every night so that, my sister and I would have better. As a teenage mother with no hope of a future, leaving everything in Mexico and moving to America was the only way to survive. Today, my mother still fights to free us from that struggle. We face huge challenges, but they make me powerful. When people ask me what my mom does for living, I answer a house cleaner, standing proud with my head held high. It is this pride that fuels my ambition to become an educator.
In school, I have worked hard in honors and AP classes to make our American dreams a reality. Extra-curricularly, I have become senior class vice president and one of the few students of color in leadership. In everything I do, I try and bring pride to the Mexican American experience. I want our dreams printed on college diplomas to show the world what we have accomplished. I will honor my struggle and the struggle of millions of Latinos like me, by teaching kids the way up and out.
I want to continue to work hard and become the teacher I never had. My dream is to teach History in a predominantly Latino public school where I can teach the richness of history, but more importantly I can’t wait to teach young Latinos their history. I want to become a modern day Sal Castro of the Los Angeles School District who created a revolution of Chicano pride in his students. Like him, want to find my path and then help my people overcome the obstacles that stand in their way of attaining an education. I want to become the teacher who is respected as living proof that Chicano dreams do come true.
“Mom, ya acabe de limpiar.”
