Loida Olivera

EDU 280/ fall 2017

10/23/2017

The Art of Multiplication

My name is Loida Olivera. I am from California. This is my second year at CSN studying

education. So many aspects of my cultural upbringing thought me to appreciate my education. Awesome

educators thought me to make an impact in this world and compliment my cultural upbringing with the

importance of an education. The lessons that I have learned so far in live is what motivates me to reach

my goals today. The most precious thing my culture has taught me is the Art of multiplication.

I am the daughter of Mexican immigrants. My mom what one of five children and was raised by

my grandmother, a single-mom and a widow. My dad was the eldest of his ten siblings; both my parents

were no strangers to sharing, hand-me-downs and living day by day. My parents upbringing have rooted

my foundation and have given me a clear sense of cultural identity. I was born and raised in Compton,

California until the age of 16 when I moved to Las Vegas with my family. Growing up my neighborhood

had a curfew of 8pm which most of us kids followed. My neighborhood is heavily Hispanic and heavily

crime stricken as well there was many festivals and Mexican traditions that would take place on my

neighborhood streets and also the occasional gunfire. Though I never was able to identify myself with the

traditional aspect of the Mexican culture because I was raised in an evangelical household, Mexican

culture is so intermingled with the catholic religion it was virtually impossible to correlate myself with

Mexican rituals and religious traditions. My link to Mexican culture is more principle and standards

based.

Growing up school was a safe haven for me where I was able to eat a meal, make some friends,

and learn. On occasion I would get an instructor or teacher come into my life that would leave a great a

positive impact. The type of instructors that would allow me to step out of survival mode and remind

me that education was a precious tool for life and for future generations to come. The Mexican culture is
usually a poor one, I was taught from a young age how to use tortillas in at least twenty different ways

and in every stage of the tortillas deterioration. One day we made quesadillas and the next we would

make flautas (rolled and fried tacos) and when the tortillas were very old and hard they were revived

and transformed into chilaquiles(hard tortillas, bathe in salsa) .

My parents are some of the hardest working and dedicated people. They proved this when they

were able to become U.S. citizens, even though they speak broken English, their pride for this country

was unwavering they both decided to study English and take the English Citizenship Test even though

they didnt have to. My parents were constantly trying to prove to us that anything was possible with

dedication and hard work they both passed their test and were sworn is as U.S. Citizens shortly after that.

I was the second of four siblings to graduate high school. At that time, I set out to find ways to

help others. Working long hours in the customer service industry, volunteered at food banks, and shelters

I was able to find a true passion for helping people. Most currently I continued to volunteer, taking care of

children with diverse disabilities while working at a psychiatric hospital for minors. My parents

constantly reminded me of the importance of hard work and dedication. All of the hard work paid off

every single time I was able to help someone realize their potential too just like my parents showed me so

many times in the past.

Being brought up in with very little has made me very creative. My toys usually included items

like: a broken vacuum cleaner, some boxes and a lot of imagination. Because of my cultural heritage and

my upbringing I have the special ability to find the good in a bad situation. Professionally my goals are to

be able to find skills in children that have very little skillset. My goal is to be able to discover something

good in everyone I come across. I want to teach that through much adversity, disabilities, a lack of

resources, or means there is a way to multiply their skills and knowledge when they are combined with

hard work, and determination. I want to introduce to people the same Art of Multiplication that my

parents and my culture implanted me.