"The Achievement of Desire"- Richard Rodriguez : The Scholarship Boy

         The selection written by Richard Rodriguez is one I can relate to. Being latino and brought up in an American environment, it can be difficult to assimulate to the culture as well as the language. However, I have seen on several personal accounts Cuban immigrants who have landed in Miami not one week passed, already transferring to a school where everyone speaks English. You can see the fear in their eyes, "how will I survive?", "will I meet anyone like me?". Fortunetely for them, unlike Rodriguez, Miami is a latino friendly environment where everyone speaks Spanish. Rodriguez grew up in a more difficult setting, perhaps an unfriendly setting for "fresh-off" latinos whose primary language is Spanish.
        One phrase Rodriguez repeats often is "the scholarship boy," a phrase and definition that I myself feel like I can define myself by. At first, I too was not to fond of school but as I began making friends, learning English, and understanding my homework, I wanted to go to school everyday. I grew up in a low-income household with a single mom. I knew that if I wanted to succeed, it would have to be by applying myself in my studies and working hard. To me the phrase 'the scholarship boy/girl" is that individual child that wants to dedicate themselves to their future, their education because they know that in order to succeed and go to college/university they will have to rely on their education. Yet one of the things that Rodriguez also noticed with his education was his growing distance with his parents. As I continued my education I noticed that I became more knowledgeable then my mother in different subject areas. I could never really talk to her about school and what I was learning, I felt that she was incapable of understanding what I was learning and going through. However I feel very fortunate that she was involved in my education, unline Rodriguez's parents which seemed to lack that passion for their child's education.