Zaragoza 1

Dianna Zaragoza
Professor Ditch
English 113B
2/18/15
Reaching Success

Cultural identity can be defined by race, your ethnicity, belief system, background, your
love of music, the college life, anything can define cultural identity and the way you view it.
While growing up my family and I were always crammed in a tiny room with little space to live
in and little food to eat. Till this day, there is no stability with finances. I live in a mobile home
less than twenty-five feet long with my father, whom in fact is an alcoholic. Since I know I
havent had the worst nor the best in life, I was shaped by my socio-economic status. I now
believe that school is important, I became a person that knows she is worthy of success because
of this struggle and even though Ive never had a beautiful home to live in, this is a part of my
culture. In a way, living in poverty has had a positive effect on me and because of this I grew
closer to figuring out my path to success, which is college.
Reaching my goal will always be in the back of my head. I have encountered obstacles
that have influenced my state of mind as a student and because of this, I know that in order to
reach my goals I will have to go through school to get an education. My co-workers are all highschool drop-outs that found school to be something negative. In my eyes, college is a way of
creating a safer environment for myself and my family in the future. College has always been
heavily influenced on me since I am the youngest out of four siblings. This reminds me of an
article by Sandra Winn named, Student Motivation: a socio-economic perspective, in this
article Winn talks about how students that come from a demanding families were able to work

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around their academic life-style and students that come from not so demanding families were not
able to work with their academic life. In a way, this relates back to my cultural identity and how
my family has not been financially stable and how that has influenced me to work as hard as I
can to achieve my desires. Because of my demanding life-style, I can strive for my success as a
student knowing I can take on the responsibilities as an adult.
While growing up I would hear stories about how my father had no education, this is part
of a reason I believe education is my way to make him happy. My father was raised growing
crops since the age of nine. My dad tells me that since he was the oldest, he had to help my
grandpa make an affordable living for all my uncles and aunts. This reminds me of the
documentary Happy directed by Roko Belic. This documentary questions how people of
different cultures react to happiness and what they believe happiness is truly about. There is a
story of an Indian man whose family lives in a little room. Statistics prove that this Indian man
may be happier than a person who lives in a mansion here in the United States. That goes to
show that different cultures have different meanings for the word happiness, and also shows that
money can easily influence happiness. It is commonly misunderstood that money can buy
happiness, but in my opinion happiness is about family and reaching success as an individual.
Education is a culture in which you grow knowledge that prepares you for an intellectual
and mature life. Reaching my full-potential is not only one of my dreams but its also a way of
challenging myself. Since I am just at the age of nineteen, I have a lot more maturing and
preparing to do and this is the beginning of my journey as a college student. In an essay by Alisa
Valdes-Rodriguez named, My Hips, My Caderas Valdes talks about how one day she dreams
that Latinas can set standards for beauty and success, this is motivation within itself. I found this
to be interesting because I do to believe that one day I can set standards for success and beauty

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throughout the country. I know that while growing up I had struggles that I overcame that made
me the person I am today. I am more self-sufficient, responsible and knowledgeable.
I believe that growing up without a proper home has motivated me to become a
successful person, my background influenced my need for success as a student because I know
that without education, I will be struggling throughout my life. My dad has proved this to me, I
sometimes believe if he had a chance to go to school, he would have taken advantage of it. So
this is why I focus on education. Sometimes I reminisce on how when I was a little girl and I
would sit there and play teacher with my stuffed animals. Unlike many others, I always liked
the idea of school. Learning new things every day is a part of growing intellectually. Since I am
the first in my immediate family to enter a higher institute of learning, I cant quit. Not only
because of that but itll better me in the future. I wont have to struggle every night to make a
dinner for my family, or even provide an aluminum roof over their head.
Obstacles that I have overcame as a student was learning when to ask for help. For
starters, my mother was never around to guide me in the right direction and because of that, the
choices I made while younger, like moving schools for the wrong reasons, influenced the way I
viewed education. I moved schools about five times within four years. Not because I was a bad
student, but simply because I didnt have proper mentors to guide me through life. This is part of
a reason why I take myself to be independent, and a hard worker.
My education culture is influenced everyday by my friends here at CSUN, they inspire
me to do better as a person and motivate me to reach my success. My cultural identity as an
individual has been influenced by my background, as you can see. I view myself to be selfsufficient and of course, independent.

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My cultural identity has been shaped by my back ground and has encouraged me to reach
my full-potential. I know that I am constantly going to be on the move, working as an individual
to satisfy my needs as a young woman should. I didnt grow up with a family that had a beautiful
home and a nice car, because of this I have noticed that reaching my full-potential as a person
wont come easy. I know that in order to reach my full-potential as a student I will have to focus
on my studies and focus on bettering myself which is a process Im eager to learn. School is my
life. Homework keeps me busy. Work is my hustle.

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Work Cited:
Belic, Roko. "Happy 2011 Full Documentary." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 17 Feb. 2015.
Winn, Sandra. "Student Motivation: A Socio-economic Perspective." Studies in Higher
Education. Vol. 27. N.p.: Routledge, Part of the Taylor & Francis Group, 2002. 445-57.
Print.
Valdes, Alisa. "My Hips, My Caderas." Contemporary Reader Apr. 2000: n. pag. Print.