Dividing my time.
I have grown up splitting my time between a small town named Lindsay, and Modesto, both in California. Lindsay has many orchards that grow oranges and olives, which draw a lot of farmhands to pick fruit. Some pickers only pass through Lindsay to pick fruit during harvest season, keeping the overall population of Lindsay very small, which appealed to my family. We are a family of five and I often have extended family staying with us because they are not always able to make ends meet on their own.
As a child, I only had a vague understanding of our migrant life, not understanding that it was unique. As a migrant, my family would move to Modesto from May through September, and then back to Lindsay again for the rest of the year. Moving back and forth annually was difficult. I was never able to complete a school year in its entirety, spending only a month in the beginning and end of the year in Modesto. It was really hard to make friends because I did not have the consistency to build relationships. It was a lonely time. I did this from when I was in preschool until the fourth grade. Since I moved schools it was hard keeping up with different school subjects because each school taught different types of materials. Also when I attended school in Modesto the teachers would not really pay attention to me since they knew I wouldn’t be there the whole year. This really made me feel left out because the teachers didn’t care if I did good or bad on my homework compared to the other students in that room. It didn’t matter to them if I got behind because they just thought I would be behind in school no matter what because I divided my time with Lindsay and Modesto throughout my time.
As I grew older, my family let me complete entire school years in Lindsay, and we return to Modesto the day after school ends. My family migrates to wherever they can find work to support us.I would stay home and watch my family return tired, sweaty, and dirty. We always stay in apartments that are meant to only house migrant families. My parents wake up at 3a.m. and come home in the afternoon. They pick in the summer, working under the hot California sun. They talk about working in the fields often, but I have never heard them comment positively. Watching my family, I knew this is not what I want my life to be. They are not in perfect condition a problem that they do have are back pains. My parents been picking since they were teenagers they know how it is they absolutely do not want that to be my future that is why they help me stay motivated to go to college and get an education.
I do not want to give my future children a life like this. I do not want to wake up every morning hating to go to work. My parents’ life is my motivation to succeed in academics. I understand that school is my key to opportunity. Living as the child of migrant farmworkers pushes me into doing better things for my life, focusing on school so that I can have a better future. I have learned that nothing is given to you; you have to work to accomplish what you want. When I go to college I am going to major in sociology because of my background I tend to later get a job as a social worker. Becoming a social worker would give me the chance to work with kids that might have some rough lives to help them get a better life.
I have grown up splitting my time between a small town named Lindsay, and Modesto, both in California. Lindsay has many orchards that grow oranges and olives, which draw a lot of farmhands to pick fruit. Some pickers only pass through Lindsay to pick fruit during harvest season, keeping the overall population of Lindsay very small, which appealed to my family. We are a family of five and I often have extended family staying with us because they are not always able to make ends meet on their own.
As a child, I only had a vague understanding of our migrant life, not understanding that it was unique. As a migrant, my family would move to Modesto from May through September, and then back to Lindsay again for the rest of the year. Moving back and forth annually was difficult. I was never able to complete a school year in its entirety, spending only a month in the beginning and end of the year in Modesto. It was really hard to make friends because I did not have the consistency to build relationships. It was a lonely time. I did this from when I was in preschool until the fourth grade. Since I moved schools it was hard keeping up with different school subjects because each school taught different types of materials. Also when I attended school in Modesto the teachers would not really pay attention to me since they knew I wouldn’t be there the whole year. This really made me feel left out because the teachers didn’t care if I did good or bad on my homework compared to the other students in that room. It didn’t matter to them if I got behind because they just thought I would be behind in school no matter what because I divided my time with Lindsay and Modesto throughout my time.
As I grew older, my family let me complete entire school years in Lindsay, and we return to Modesto the day after school ends. My family migrates to wherever they can find work to support us.I would stay home and watch my family return tired, sweaty, and dirty. We always stay in apartments that are meant to only house migrant families. My parents wake up at 3a.m. and come home in the afternoon. They pick in the summer, working under the hot California sun. They talk about working in the fields often, but I have never heard them comment positively. Watching my family, I knew this is not what I want my life to be. They are not in perfect condition a problem that they do have are back pains. My parents been picking since they were teenagers they know how it is they absolutely do not want that to be my future that is why they help me stay motivated to go to college and get an education.
I do not want to give my future children a life like this. I do not want to wake up every morning hating to go to work. My parents’ life is my motivation to succeed in academics. I understand that school is my key to opportunity. Living as the child of migrant farmworkers pushes me into doing better things for my life, focusing on school so that I can have a better future. I have learned that nothing is given to you; you have to work to accomplish what you want. When I go to college I am going to major in sociology because of my background I tend to later get a job as a social worker. Becoming a social worker would give me the chance to work with kids that might have some rough lives to help them get a better life.