Personal Experience

       I am a first generation born American in my family. My mom came to the United States at a young age thinking in her kids who were non existing to that point. Her life,so far, had been a struggle of a humble woman in poverty. She only completed first, second, and third grade. After third grade her mom took her out of school and introduced her to the work world. She worked hard all day. She envied her sister who had the great opportunity of attending school. She begged her mother to let her go back to school. Not till three years later did she let her return to school. My mom entered sixth grade, and despite not attending school for 3 years she caught up very quickly and got straight A's. But very soon her mother took her out school once again to have her work again to help sustain the family. At the age of 22 my mom came to the U.S in hope of a better life for herself but most of all for her kids. My mom was not pregnant but she knew she would have children some day, and that one thought drove her to seek a better future and opportunities for her to be kids.
         From my personal experience, one of the reasons why Hispanic students are more likely to drop out is due to the lack of parent involvement in their kid's education. In my case, despite my mother's interest in our education and her encouragement she was incapable of aiding us in our education. She was and still is a single mother; she didn't have the time to go to school meetings and involve herself in our life at school. We had to find within ourselves motivation to do good in school and complete our homework. When we had questions we had to find the answers on our own. The only way my mom helped us was by giving us verbal support; by trying to encourage us to complete school and acquire a career in which we can always rely on. She would tell us to do good in school so that we could become someone in life and not have to break our backs like her. My mom never learned how to speak English but that really wasn't an excuse to why she couldn't get involved. I think that many times Hispanic parents think that just because we speak the language (English), and therefore have a greater advantage than they do, then we can figure things out on our own. Which really is not correct, we still need guidance.