Open with an anecdote of a pressure to know/answer/provide for my immigrant non English speaking parents, however, this leads me to discover the value in curiosity or asking for help.
Here is my raw draft…
My non english speaking parents immigrated to the United States. My dad had conversational english at best, my mother was just starting to learn. What does that mean for a short 7 year old with a love for dragon ball and yu-gi-oh?
Since as far back as I can remember I’ve been reading government documents, medical papers, and all the mail sent to the house for my parents. I would translate at the bank, utility companies, doctor’s offices, and stores. I became the official interpreter for my entire family. By 8 I was balancing a checkbook and translating late payment letters. I figured out how to use the tv, and worked out how emails were sent and received.
While this may be a huge responsibility for a kid, it taught me a lesson I use every chance I get; it taught me the importance of three little words.
Being an active interpreter for everything heavily affected how I saw and did at school.
School was the only place where no one looked to me for the answers. I didn’t have to make guesses on what the average percentage rate was, or how to write an affidavit, or keep track of the many confirmation numbers and status of immigration cases.
School was very interesting. The teacher asks a question, and you only raise your hand if you know the answer. You had a choice in answering.
In 4th grade my english teacher, Ms. Sarah gave us a paper to write on a given prompt. I didn’t understand the prompt,but I thought all I had to do was give it my best try and she would recognize that I had tried my hardest. When she handed back the papers and I had gotten a C-. When I looked at the paper my heart dropped. My stomach knotted,
A week later there was another paper, and again I was confused on what the prompt was asking of me. I felt that same pit again. I didn’t know what to do, I just didn’t want to bring a bad grade home. I didn’t want to disappoint my parents. For the first time I truly understood what it was like for my parents. There are things they must do to keep providing for this family, and even with the language barrier, they got them all done with me as the only resource. So just as my parents had done so many times with me, I raised my hand and said —
It’s the ability to say, “I Don’t Know”. While these three little words might seem simple, I credit them for a lot of what I know. It was like magic. Everytime I said these words teachers would rush to my aid. A foolish 10 year old me thought teachers only liked the smart kids, the kids who raised their hand for every question. But no. I was like Shazam. He says one word and he turns into a superhero. I said three words and I would get all the help I need.
Use this. Work with it. You can change as much as you would like to make this work. But try to stick to the point of helping parents translating to learning a lesson and helping myself
Last Completed Projects
| topic title | academic level | Writer | delivered |
|---|