Rosa Maria Jimenez, I want to start from the beginning which is with my grandma being an 11 year old girl who had to take care of her four younger siblings in a poor village in the Dominican Republic. She never attended school because she was too busy raising her siblings while her mom(my great grandma) was out all day 20 miles into the city to sell food in the street to bring back as much money she can. Once my grandmother reached 18yrs old she found a job being a maid for a wealthy family and worked for them for 5yrs, after that she got pregnant with my mother and knew raising her daughter in DR wasn’t going to be successful plan. She gave birth in DR but the family she worked for were flying to New York and got my grandmother a visa to go with them in which she came up with her plan. After landing and staying with them, on the last day they were supposed to fly back she snuck out hours before to a relatives home and decided leaving her daughter in DR for 3yrs is the best expedited plan so she could make enough money to buy a home and have stability for her family to bring them to New York. Doing this not only broke her heart but my mother, being without my grandmother forced her to become independent at a young age. My grandmother worked so hard and deserves the world, without her I wouldn’t be the woman I am today. She taught me that nothing should be used as an excuse and hustling is mandatory nothing will ever be handed out to you. We weren’t born fortunate so that means we have to work harder for our desires. My family is very old school oriented and religious so growing up weekly church visits and Sunday school were mandatory. In the beginning I dreaded going but as I got older I realized it was used as a mechanism to bring my family and I closer with each other through God. As my mother, Damarys Elizabeth Marte, raised me she tried her best to give me the life she wished she had, an actual childhood that I could enjoy being a kid without adult responsibilities. As she told me her stories ands struggles growing up it motivated me to work hard to make her proud that her daughter will accomplish the dreams she couldn’t. These two woman have influenced me so much by showing me I don’t need a man to be happy, successful or confident. I learned to love myself so much I don’t yearn to be loved anymore. When you are your biggest supporter all your dreams seem so much more achievable and failure should push your harder to make it a win. I still have many more life lessons to go through but as of right now I have strong, independent and brave woman to catch me when I fall.
Category: Unit 1 (Page 5 of 10)
Who influenced me? Who encouraged me to learn? Well how can I answer that without everyone in my life that helps pave the way for me. Although I consider myself an observer type of learner, I can truly only give my parents the title for who helped encourage me for certain aspects of life.
Let’s start with my mother, the one whose always been by my side since birth. Ironic that I’m writing this now and her wedding is tomorrow, I will have to make another toast. But my mother has been there by my side through the good and bad. I remember my first memory of her teachings; it was little me in our old house and she just taught me how to tie my shoes. From that day on I would go into elementary school changing my laces to different colors because my mother taught me how to tie my shoes. From since I continue to learn from my mother receiving all her knowledge shaping me into the man I am today.
Introduced into my life right before my teenage years my stepfather has helped and seen me grow into a capable grown mature young man. I truly don’t consider him a stepfather rather as my biological father after all he has done for me and my family. My stepfather built my character as his after taking me under his care. He is truly a tremendous father figure and I know my future is set because of his family and work ethic. seeing his actions and taking in his guidance is the reason I’m confident in my future. It was him who picked me up whenever I slacked in school, he was the one who taught me how to drive, and it was him who made me his underboss in his own company. Knowing his trust and belief in me is what inspires me to do great in life and continue to try and be the best. I can continue writing about my dad for hours because that’s how much he has done for me, and I appreciate all he has done. I even wrote my college essay about him! It is him who educated and truly inspires me in life.
When I think back to who most influenced and inspired me to become the person I am today, the first person that comes to mind is my mother, Yun Chen.
In 2005, my mother and my father immigrated with little 5-year old me to the United States in hopes of giving me the opportunities towards a brighter future. My mother, despite having her whole life ahead of her, decided to leave everything behind to start over in a foreign country. At the time, my mother had just been promoted at the hospital she worked at and was a well-respected nurse with many years of experience under her belt. Upon coming to the United States, however, she was unable to practice as a nurse in New York with her Chinese nursing license despite her expertise in the field. As a result, my mother had to virtually start her nursing career again from scratch by earning a new license. At the time, my mother didn’t speak much English so having to relearn all the nursing material that she once knew like the back of her hand in a different language was extremely difficult for her. I remember coming home from school to see her hunched over the desk of our little one-room apartment with a thick NCLEX prep book laid out in front of her filled with countless post-it notes, highlights, and scribbled translations. Next to her would be a little Chinese-English dictionary, thoroughly worn out from having been flipped through countless times whenever my mother encountered words she didn’t understand. Besides taking a small break to make dinner, my mother would study tirelessly week after week, while simultaneously taking English lessons during the day and being pregnant with my younger sister, until the wee hours of the night. Even now, one of my most prominent memories as a child was falling asleep to the dim orange glow of our rusted table lamp and the faint sound of flipping pages.
Fast forward more than 15 years later, my mother is now a fully registered nurse working at a local nursing home where she’s worked for over 10 years now. She is what inspires me to face challenges with bravery and emerge from hardship stronger than before. My mother is one of the most compassionate and hardworking people I know. On days when she would come home exhausted from work, she would always take the time to listen to my worries about the littlest things. Even on her off-days, she would always be willing to cover a shift if someone called in sick, exclaiming “my patients need me!”I often compare her spirit to that of an ocean; with a heart equally vast and gentle as it is strong and unrestrained. Someday, I aspire to be someone just like her.
