Tuesday, July 12, 2005

I’m considering not letting my father know of my college graduation ceremony (44 units left of 129, about two years at my current pace — I work full time). In fact, I don’t think I’ll even tell him when I become a teacher. What’s the use? He ridicules me for still being in school, and I know he’ll ridicule me for my meager salary when I become a teacher. He said to my Kindergarten brother tonight, “Get done with your schooling ASAP so that you don’t end up being an old man in college.” I’m not being paranoid; it was a reference to me. It was the second one this evening. He says of me that I’m wasting my life in college, that I’m too old to be in school. Instead, he says, I should work for him and (I guess) eventually run his company.

I suppose I can’t blame my father for not valuing an education. Life has been pretty good to him without it. He earns good money installing stairs in fancy homes, and he didn’t even have to finish high school. My brother has a GED and he’s making about as much money as my dad, but at least he has respect for what I’m doing. He has looked at me, shaken my hand and has said to me that he’s glad I’m going to school. He knows that as a teacher, I’ll always make less money than he does, but he holds the firm belief that an education is the way to go.

So why do I go to school? Well, I want to finish what I’ve started, and I want the kids in my family to know that they, too, can succeed in school. Once I’m through with college, I won’t hate myself for getting a job that’s not related to my schooling, just as long as it brings me pleasure and/or money. The thousands of dollars and hours I’ve spent on my schooling are well spent, even if I die on the day of my college graduation. It seems that my father will never understand that about me, but I won’t lose sleep over it. All it means is that only one of my parents will get to take a picture with their college-graduate son on one of the most important days of his life. Otros quisieran esa dicha.

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