What does education mean to Rodriguez?
I think in his younger years, being educated seemed to be how Rodriguez defined himself. Learning was his passion. He even felt resentment toward his parents because they were uneducated, thus becoming a barrier, blocking him from feeling completely comfortable in pursuing a higher and higher education. Rodriguez states that he was “always successful, always unconfident”. The reason for not being confident seemed to stem from Rodriguez not being able to feel comfortable within his own home and family because of the vast difference in education between he and his parents. His family would support him financially, but their ability to not fully understand his desires, and school material left him lacking the mental support and understanding that he seems to crave throughout the essay.
I agree with Rodriguez when he says that a minority student is often the least prepared for the challenges of school. Out of personal experience, I have had many friends, and even my boyfriend who speak English as a second language. I know that they live the sort of “two lives” that the author speaks of when their atmospheres and topics of conversation are very different at home versus at school. On the other hand though, I think Rodriguez should take a step back and look at how blessed he has been, rather than most of the essay being on what he thinks he missed out on. Having a family who supports you financially to attend college, or being able to receive a free education through scholarships is something that many children who work very hard (whether or not they are a minority) at and never achieve. He is very lucky, and I would have liked to have seen a bit of a more positive tone out of the essay, rather than only focusing on what he felt he was lacking in his life.
One of the quotes that I didn’t fully understand in this reading was on page 3 when Rodriguez says “Good schooling requires that any student alter early childhood habits.” I don’t understand what is exactly meant by this, because Rodriguez says any child, when before he was only talking about minority children. Which habits does he think are altered? Of course, children grow up and mature when they go to school because they are learning. Perhaps these are the sorts of childhood habits he is talking about. Maybe he is referring to what happens when people other than just parents start to influence a child’s life and habits. When schooling begins, teachers and class mates also start to play a prominent role in influencing previous habits or ideas.
Another quote which I found contradictory to the main theme of the writing was “I intended to hurt my mother and father. I was still angry at them for having encouraged me toward classroom English.” Rodriguez clearly states that he feels upset that his parents do not understand or encourage his schooling in a way he feels fit, yet he also blames them for enrolling him in an English speaking school in the first place. I like this quote because it even further enhances his confusion and discomfort in his family situation, but at the same time it threw me off because it contradicted his previous arguments.
And finally, the last quote that I found myself particularly drawn to was when the scholarship boy is talked about as a “collector of thoughts, not a thinker.” I think the quote is trying to say that knowledge is not as valuable if you don’t make it your own, by applying it to your life and own experiences. Simply collecting thoughts, or memorizing facts doesn’t really make you think or grow as a person. Truly thinking and making the information you are given valuable is what makes you learn rather than just memorize.
