Hispanic Heritage and how it affected my goals and me by Louis

Hispanic Heritage and how it affected my goals and me by Louis - October 2013 Scholarship Essay

My short-term goals are to complete my senior year as a dual enrollment student, with straight A's. But my long-term goals are to be able to graduate with honors from wherever I do my undergraduate, and then go on to medical school and become a hematologist. These long-term goals have been in my mind since I was a child. Growing up as first generation Hispanic, I always felt I had something to prove. I had to make something of myself and show that I could do whatever I wanted to do no matter what circumstances. Both my parents gave up their entire lives in Guatemala to move to the United States because they felt it would be the best for me and my sister. They came here and worked endless hours cleaning houses, and working in a factory as forklift driver. They work hard every day so that my sister and I have the opportunity to make a difference in this world. Coming from a Hispanic background, it seemed like people always judged me. I always felt different, and never really found my identity. I clearly remember in 5th grade when we had to draw a self-portrait of how we see ourselves, and I colored myself black. Everybody laughed at it, but it was a serious thing. I really had no clue where I belonged and who I was. It was not until I moved to Georgia at the age of ten that I realized who I was. Coming to a small town in the middle of the south was intimidating because there was a clear distinction of ethnicities and cultures. It was not until one day when a white girl I used to date dad told me that, “Your kind belonged with your kind, ya’ll are not even important, and that is how it should stay.” That has stayed with me since. I remember I was confused and upset because I did not know how to take that, I mean I was just a kid. My mom than sat me down and told me how we come from a Hispanic heritage, and that her and my father were both immigrants, and how life was tougher for them. That day was the day I decided I wanted to make something big out of myself. How was somebody going to outright tell me that “my kind” was to stay with “my kind” and that “we were not that important?” I knew I had a dream of already being a doctor as a child, but that day I realized I was for sure going to become a doctor. I was going to prove to everybody that being from a Hispanic heritage was not a deciding factor of where I would end up in life, and that I could become whatever I wanted to be in life. My heritage has helped me find my identity, and it has shown me that people can be mean, but that is the fuel that drives me to succeed in my academics. Being Hispanic has been a great thing for my life, and I will remind my kids where they came from when I have them. This heritage we come from is one of many great people, and is one where many more will come from. I will be one of the greats soon, and I will show people that we can do whatever we want. As Cassius Clay ( Muhammad Ali) would say, “Let me show you how great I am.”