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Common Application Prompt

"When I was your age, I had to travel 10 miles, through 5 feet of snow, uphill both ways,

just so I could learn. It wasnt easy for us back then like it is for you now." This was the story

that I constantly heard from my mother and father when I requested to stay home from school for

what seemed like legitimate reasons. Whether it was raining, snowing, or sunshine, my father

insisted that we go to school to get our education because he did not have such a luxury back in

Romania. I am a first generation Romanian immigrant born to parents who lived their lives in the

communist times of Nicolae Ceauescu. They traveled to America with six children behind them,

with another soon to come, all whilst speaking little to no English. My father worked as an

engineer in Romania making a sufficient living, but wanted more for his children than what he

had received. So, he found a way to take his wife, three teenagers, two toddlers, and an infant

across the globe to live a better life than the one he had.

When my father began looking for similar work in engineering, he was unsuccessful. His

college degree did not transfer over to America, and with little money to pay for four years at a

university, he decided to work a blue collar job. It wouldnt pay much, but it would feed his

family. He gained endurance and knowledge through this job and decided to start his own tile

company. He worked long hard weeks, from the early morning to the late night. He did

everything in his power to provide for all the necessities of a family. My mother on the other

hand, never managed to receive a college degree. There were little job opportunities in place for

her, but nonetheless, she found a job as a housemaid. It wasnt an ideal situation, but it would

add to the already small income. From these experiences, my parents raised us to work hard in

all aspects of our lives, and to put in as much effort as we could. My father required our family to

complete all primary, secondary, and high school years, and follow through with at least a
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bachelor's degree. This exemplified his seriousness about the education system, and how it could

better the lives of his children.

Although a top priority for my parents was educating their children, they always

emphasized teaching and immersing us into our culture and heritage. They did everything in

their power to demonstrate that being ethnic is something to be proud of. They depicted this

through the ideas that being a different nationality from everyone else is, "cool." My parents

always told me that it gave me an upper hand to be bilingual, that it would help me drastically in

life. Therefore, I believed every word they said, and marched on as a proud American born

Romanian. I continued to be proud of where my heritage came from, and would never shy away

from a moment to tell anyone that, "I am Romanian," or, "My family is from Romania." But this

fire for my ethnicity burnt out the minute is stepped into elementary school. I became

embarrassed of who I was because I was that kid who spoke a weird, different language, that

wasnt English. I was always looked at differently due to the weirdly smelling food I brought to

lunch, or because I had to be taken out of class to go to ESL. My thoughts were conflicted. I no

longer knew whether or not I should be proud of who I was. As the years went on, I found

myself regaining the appreciation of being ethnic. I soon realized that there were more kids alike

me than I originally thought. Once I entered high school, I no longer questioned whether or not

being Romanian was something to be proud of. I gained a new understanding of what it meant to

be diverse and therefore carried myself with a newer, brighter outlook on life.

My parents told me stories of what it was like to live in communist times, and the

harshness of their environment. Although some of these may have seemed exaggerated, they

always hoped their children would do better than they did, and stressed how they would do

everything in their power to help us achieve our goals. By their unwavering support, cultural
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education, and strong moral values, I was able to grow into fully appreciating what it meant to be

an ethnic person. Now, I am a confident Romanian-American woman who feels comfortable

helping others grow into appreciating their heritage as well.