Castro 1

Selina Castro
Professor Ditch
English 113B
18 February 2015
Cultural Differences between Family and Education
People can be part of several types of cultural groups without them even knowing they
are part of one. A cultural group can be anything that a person is part of or even a community
that just shapes them into the person they are today. I am part of the Latina family culture which
makes me Latin American, and I am also part of the academic culture where I am a student.
Having to be part of these two important cultures has made me act and perform in two separate
ways, since these two cultures intertwine. Being Latina can be problematic because I need to
change myself in order to fit into being a student and leads to not being able to be who I really
am in these cultures.
My parents were born in Mexico and I was boring in California, which makes me Latin
American. Ever since I can remember my family has always had financial problems and always
making sure I am on what they think is the right path for me. My parents have always enforced
the idea that school is the key for a successful future because that is how my parents raised the
whole family. If a person did not have an education then they would most likely not be
financially stable, since the person did not get the education they needed. My parents always
pushed me to graduate from high school, which I did, and now push me even more to finish and
graduate from college. To graduate from college and have my own career means I would be set
and have a job that will be great and keep me financially stable, which is all my parents want

Castro 2
from me. The whole reason why they enforce education on me so much is because they do not
want me having the same struggles in life that they did with money. All this leads to me shifting
my identity in order to follow the heritage of my Latin culture.
Being in college and a Latina makes it very difficult to feel acceptance and being able to
be myself around the different spaces, such as with my family and with education. In my family I
am the first generation to go to college which is a big deal in my culture because certain people
think that Latinos are not capable of getting an education, which can be problematic and not true.
In Long Among the Data: A Review of Latino First Generation College Students Aumory Nora
says Latinos clearly constitute a vital portion of the U.S. population, they continue to face
barriers in the pursuit of postsecondary education.(Nora 4) Even till today there are still some
Latinos that do face challenges as well just because they are Latinos. Many times while growing
up I have had people discriminate against me just by being Latina. People would always say that
I was never capable of going to college just because of my ethnicity background. Anastacia
Kurylo in Culture and Communication says People use cultural symbols to identify members
of a cultural group and to generalize their type of life.(Kurylo 5) I am able to relate to this quote
because people can jump to conclusions and just think they know a person just by looking at
their appearance. For me they would just look at me and think I am Latina and automatically
assume I will not finish school or most likely just fail at it. Thus leading this situation to be
problematic because it lowers my self-esteem and makes me think I am not capable of getting
my education and not being comfortable in the schools environment.
Being part of these two cultures can bring many obstacles because both cultures
intertwine with each other. It is hard for me to be myself and not having to change my

Castro 3
personality so people do not think negatively of me or just assume things by what they have seen
or heard about Latinos. When people say that I cant go to school because I am a woman and that
I belong at home just because I am a women makes me see myself differently. I have people tell
me that just because I am Latina means I will be a drop out and not end up doing anything in
with my life. In Self- Identity and Culture by Cerise L. Glenn says As the process occurs,
people develop an idea of who they are by looking at themselves through the lens of how they
think others perceive them.(Glenn 124) Eventually when I have all these negativity around me
just makes me see myself in the way that they think I am, therefore bringing me down. This
causes a problem because if I cannot be who I want to be which is be a student and attend school
as a Latina student and affects my education.
When having to be part of these two cultures it can lead to me not being myself. When I
am at home I have my family telling what career they want for me which is to be a lawyer when
I do not like that at all. What I want to major in is Psychology, but having to be pressured on that
can lead for me not being able to follow what I want and causing a problem. This also causing
me to not being able to do something that I know I like and will end up stuck with doing
something that I will not enjoy at all. In How Loving Your Job Makes You Succeed by Curt
Rosengren says Doing work you dont enjoy is like trying to be who youre not. You might be
able to do it, even do it well, but it doesnt come naturally for you.(Rosengren 1) To me I find
this quote true because how do I expect to do something I want to do and not change how I am in
order to just follow the aspects of my Latina culture. It is important to be how I am and not have
to be changing into either culture just to fit in.

Castro 4
Although some people might say that even though I am able to choose whether I want to
listen to all the negativity that people tell me or not does not make it an easy thing to do. Having
to be hearing negative stereotypes do affect me because it is something that is happening on a
daily basis, so this causes me to get distracted and being able to focus on my education. Even
though others might say also that to choose what I want to pursue in my college experience
makes it difficult to do as well. When having parents that have always really enforce going to
school and doing the best I can and I know they only want what is best for me, it can be really
hard to go against them. In a way I will be disappointing them, which is something I do not want
to do even if it requires me changing the way that I am in order to fit in.
When being part of the Latina culture as well as the education community really impacts
me as a person in who I am and the different choices that I have to make on a daily basis. Having
to switch the way I am and how I perform can be a problem since I react to whatever problem
that gets thrown at me. When having to be a student in my education culture I have to find a way
to keep going regardless of all the negative stereotypes that some people might say to me. When
I am being part of my Latina culture I have to fit up to these expectations that my family enforce
on me changing who I really want to be in life rather than doing something I want or I would end
up enjoying in the end. Even though I have these two cultures that intertwine with each other I
know that in the end even through all these obstacles it will end up benefiting me in the end
rather than damaging the person who I am. It can be hard and problematic but it negativity
coming from others is something that maybe cannot be stopped at all.

Castro 5
Works Cited
"How Loving Your Job Helps You Succeed - US News." US News RSS. Curt Rosengren, 03
Mar. 2011. Web. 19 Feb. 2015.
Jackson II, Ronald L., and Kesha Morant. "Self-Identity and Culture." Ed. Cerise L. Glenn. N.p.:
n.p., n.d. N. pag. Print.
Kurylo, Anastacia. "Chapter 1." Culture and Communication. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Print.
Nora, Amaury, and Nicole A. Salis. Lost Among the Data: A Review of Latino First Generation
College Students. N.p., July 2012. Web. 15 Feb. 2015.