Topic: My Father’s Hard Life Abstract: My Father has always been a hardworking man. My grandfather did not allow my

father to attend school and had to start working at the age of 8 years old. He had

to look after his younger siblings and work in my grandfather’s farm because he

was the oldest brother. Even though my father did not have an education, he was

able to read and write on his own. My father was given many responsibilities but

did not gain much from helping my grandfather, so this influenced him to move to

the U.S. in order to find a better life. My father is an inspiration to my life because

of his hard work and dedication to his family.

Key words: role model, opportunity, education, work, inspire, influence, money, economy.

My father has influenced my life and my identity in a positive way. He has been a good

role model for me and my siblings. The reason I say this is because as long as I can remember he

has worked hard to give us a better life; he always taught me that education would bring me good

opportunities in life, for he never had the opportunity to receive good education when he was

little. My dad has also been a father figure to his younger siblings as well, for he was forced to

take care of them to help his parents. For being the older brother, he was given a lot of

responsibilities at a very early age. My dad has also been a good father, for he tried to raise us

without having to use physical punishment like his father did to him. I think that he is an

admirable person for not being influenced by his own father, for my grandfather was abusive and

neglected him and his siblings when they were growing up. I think that turning those experiences

and using them as something positive is what makes him a good role model for me.

My father was born and raised in a small farm called San Martin in southern Mexico; his

parents could not really afford to take care of him and the rest of the family, so they had to send

him to work when he was 8 years old. He had to stop attending school in order to help the family

around the farm, but even though it was a requirement for kids to attend school, parents were not

forced to send their kids if they chose not to. My dad was really upset so he asked his dad to send

him, but he got reprehended, so whenever he had a chance, he would sneak out once a week and

join a class for a few hours. Teachers did not care at that time, so they would let my dad sit in

class; he could not really learn much in those few hours, so he decided to start reading on his

own and practice his writing skills. When I look at my dad’s writing now, it is hard to tell that he

learned to write on his own. Learning this about my dad has inspired me to continue my

education at a higher level.

To add, at the age of 17 years old, my father married my mother, but he continued to care

for his younger siblings whenever they needed him. Even though my grandfather was around, he

did not pay attention to him or his younger siblings because he would go out and drink. My

grandfather was not a good influence to my dad, but he decided to not be like him. My dad had

to care for his younger siblings and look after them, so he was more like a father to them. He

worked hard during the day, doing work around the farm, taking care of the animals, he basically

worked the land more than my grandfather, but my grandfather never recognized this and would

often yell at him whenever something didn’t go right. My dad was married then, but he wanted

to keep helping my grandfather in order to continue looking out for his other five younger

siblings. Even though they were only his brothers, he felt that it was his responsibility to take

care of them in order to not let them go through the same situation he was going through. He

wanted to protect them from my grandfather, so he tried to be there for them as long as he could.

Now that my uncles have their own family, they still remember what he did for them, and they

respect him.

When my dad turned 21 years old he decided it was time to move on with his own

family. When he and my mom had their third child, they went to another city to start a life on

their own, but because my dad did not have a good education he could not find a good job, so he

had to move to an area where he was most likely to find a job doing farm work or in the fields. It

was around the early 1980’s when the economy began to get worst in Mexico and it was hard to

afford a living there he had to work for long hours and received very little pay, so it became

harder to raise his family, so my mother had to start working too. My dad did not want my

mother to work because he felt that the three children were being neglected. He did not want my

older siblings to stay home on their own because they could not afford to pay for a babysitter, so

he wanted to find a quick solution to his economic problems. He almost gave up, but he did not

want to return to my grandfather’s farm because he would feel like a failure, and he didn’t want

to work for my grandfather either. He wanted to build his own success and did not want to work

for my grandfather because he knew that he would never receive anything from him.

After I was born, my dad made the hard decision to come to California; he left my mother

with three kids, but he knew that if he continued to work in Mexico he would never be able to

afford a better living for my mom and my family. It was hard for him to leave my mother alone

with three kids, but he told my mother that he would try to go back to Mexico as soon as he had

enough money saved. Instead, my dad decided to stay in California longer, and he promptly

began to save money so that he could apply for legal residency in the U.S. When he was able to

accomplish this, he began to process our application as well because he did not want to risk our

lives if we were to leave the country illegally. It took about five years and a lot of hard work to

have all the documents processed but he was able to accomplish this for our family. He had

promised us that he would bring us to stay with him, and when our residency was approved, I

was happy that we could finally come to California and have all my family together.

Coming to America was hard because I had to get used to the environment, but I never

resented my dad for doing what he did. I knew that he had come to California because he was

forced to do this in order to afford a better living for us. He was forced to do this because the

economy in Mexico was very bad, especially for uneducated people. I can understand that having

a good education in Mexico is also hard for many people. I think that my dad’s opportunity was

taken away from my grandfather, but I also think that the government was not strict enough to

make sure every child has the right for education, but I am proud of my dad for having the ability

to learn on his own and motivate himself to do better in life. I feel that he did a good job raising

me and my siblings.

To conclude, because my father is a hardworking man since he was very young, he has

influenced my life so that I can take every opportunity in order to improve my education and my

personal life. He has shown me that I have to be dedicated in order to accomplish my goals in

life. Also, because he was not able to continue his education, this has made me continue to my

college education in order to have better opportunities and also to make him proud. My dad went

through very rough times, from being raised by an abusive and alcoholic parent to moving on his

own at an early age. He never followed the bad example my grandfather taught him, but he still

respected him for being his father. My dad is a good example in my life because he has shown

me that things can be possible and that it is important to try new things in order to accomplish

our goals in life. He has also taught me that family is important in life. To this day, my dad visits

my grandfather in Mexico, but they try to forget about the past. My grandfather does not drink

anymore so that has made my dad approach him differently. I think that my dad’s story can be

inspiring to anyone who takes their time to read it and can be influential in any way. Even

though I feel proud of my Mexican heritage and my culture, I also feel proud to be an American

because it has given my dad and my family opportunities that were hard to obtain in Mexico. I

think that I am more thankful now that I have learned my dad’s decision to come to America.