Blog #6 - Allison Clarke-Hall

           "In the end, though, he must choose between the two worlds: if he intends to succeed as a student, he must, literally and figuratively separate himself from his family, with its gregarious life, and find a quiet place to be alone with his thoughts."

            When I think about it, this quote is sort of sad in a way. If Rodriguez wants to be successful in the education world, he cannot be around his family as much. Rodriguez said in his essay that his family speaks a mix of Spanish and English and cannot read that well in either language. As an English major, Rodriguez said he had to cut all ties with his Spanish-speaking past. Rodriguez described that after he cut those ties, he did eventually teach himself to read Spanish. He learned quickly that the language he read was very different than what he learned as a child.

            When thinking about this, I find it sad that he had to push away his heritage and his family in order to succeed in school. I could not imagine having to forget my native language (if I had one). One of my best friends’ native languages is Spanish and when I asked her how she would feel if she had to give up her native language she said that she would feel really disconnected from her family and culture. She told me that culture and family is highly valued for Latinos and having to forget Spanish would be nearly impossible for her.