My Family, My Goal. by Jose Miguel

My Family, My Goal. by Jose Miguel - April 2024 Scholarship Essay

What motivates to achieve my academic goals is the same as many people: I want money and freedom for the rest of my life. I do not wish to work for anybody, and I would like to have the liberty of doing what I love by the time I am 30. And, if possible, doing it without any concern about external responsibilities. A dreamed life, basically. A life where I spend time with my family and kids, while I can still guarantee them a great future. And that is the important part: initially, I did not wish a living of luxury and richness. But when I gained consciousness about the situation in which most of family lived in cuba and then in Argentina, I did want to make a change, to continue what my dad has been working on for around 20 years: giving his whole family a great living. He has built most of the pathway, since half of the family is out of cuba, and I am already studying here, in the United States. The only thing that is left is to walk through such path, so I can offer them, including my father, a nice retirement (to the elders) and inheritances (to the youngers).

Before knowing this, before understanding why my dad was working so hard, I did not really want a great life. As long as I had enough money to pay a rent, buy food, take a vacation trip from time to time, and purchase some videogames, I would be happy. But what would I leave for my relatives? For what purpose had my dad travelled so long and spend such time looking for a place for us to live? Then I realized that I must stay focused; I no longer look for good grades to satisfy my parents pride, but to satisfy my ambition of a wealth and plain destiny, of what I consider enough to pay what I owe to the people that raised me, even though I do not think I would ever finish paying that debt. And that is a good thing for me, because whenever I feel unmotivated, reminding me the debt is what allows me to continue, so, at least, I can make sure they enjoy the rest of their lives together, without worrying about money or health.