#2

One question that we did not get to talk about in class was about parents that are successful expect too much of their children in school. I disagree with this statement because I think that less successful and harder working parents expect more of their children in school than the successful parents.

I think that this was a very interesting statement, considering my own life and my parents. My parents, obviously, are from Asia and they have told me many times about their childhood and how they were able to come to America. They lived in poverty during their childhood and worked very hard to be the top students in their school and to go to one of the best universities in the nation and to be able to come to America. However, I wouldn’t say that my parents are successful. They are living a comfortable life in America, much better than their childhood, but they aren’t the richest people in the world, and yet, they still push me very hard whenever it comes to school. Whenever my parents tell me this, they also urge me to work hard in school and to get good grades. They expect a lot from me in school and how I perform in various areas of my life. My parents always expect me to excel in everything I do even though they aren’t the most successful parents. Many of these kinds of parents are probably like this because they know how hard it is to succeed in life, and they want their children to be able to overcome this difficulty and to be able to do better than their parents. Most parents want the best for their children and want their children to live a more comfortable life or a more successful life than their parents.

Also, this reminds me a lot of My Antonia. For example, Mr. and Mrs. Shimerda are immigrants who live a hard life in America, but they do this because they want their children to be more successful than them. They expect their children to work hard also by doing a lot of the chores in the house, and sending out Antonia to work and make money. Mr. and Mrs. Shimerda are not rich, successful people, but they expect a lot from their children, especially Antonia and Ambrosch.

I thought this statement was a very interesting statement and it reminded me a lot about my parents and how they influence me to perform in school.