My Job by Frederik

Frederik's entry into Varsity Tutor's November 2023 scholarship contest

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My Job by Frederik - November 2023 Scholarship Essay

When my sister and I were younger, we would often accompany our mom to her cleaning jobs because she would have nowhere else to leave us. We would sit quietly on strangers’ couches, quietly and diligently doing our schoolwork, in case the homeowners returned. I’ll never forget the the sharp odor of bleach stinging at my nose crawling from the bathroom my mom was scrubbing down, nor the beaded sweat that would drip to the floor as she made us stand up from the couch so she could vacuum it… drip… drip… drip.

I’d always feel guilty just sitting there watching my mom work so laboriously, wanting to help in some way so that we could go home sooner. But whenever I rose and asked her to hand me the vacuum cleaner, she’d simply motion her hand back toward the couch . Her response was always the same: “No, this is my job. Go study. Your job is to make sure you don’t end up like me.”

My parents know what a life without higher education entails, characterized by countless hours hunched over toilets, or working brutal construction jobs. Being of Carpatho-Rusyn, or Rusnak origin, my family knows this better than anyone. Rusnaks have historically been marginalized, seen as mere serfs confined to impoverished rural communities, destined for a lifetime of physical labor. Under the Communist regime, Rusyns faced severe oppression, having to get state approval to pursue higher education or get a decent paying job, something that was de facto impossible. Consequently, a huge number of poor and neglected Rusnaks fled to America in search of the freedom to pursue their talents without having their lives predetermined. My parents were amongst these people.

The weight of my heritage and the sacrifices my parents have made humble me. I think about how lucky I am that my problems don’t involve being hunched over a toilet or doing the dirty laundry for strangers. That instead, I’ve had the privilege of undergoing academic rigors and one day going to college, opportunities that my parents never had. Blazing a new path for my family by being the first to go to college has its challenges, but my life experiences make me see it as my obligation to overcome these hurdles. I want to go to college to make the most of the sacrifices that allowed me to pursue education as a pathway, so that one day I may be able to say to my parents and ancestors, “I did my job.”

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