It is difficult to forget our roots and culture. My name is Julio and I was born in Lima, Peru which is in South America and is such a beautiful place to live; it also has a lot of resources to take advantage of. It has a lot of touristic places to visit and the great famous Machupichu ruins from the Incas are there as well. The Incas were our ancestors who had a lot of knowledge of agriculture and building big rock walls. Peruvian people speak Spanish, but in some part of the country some people still keep the tradition of our ancestors, and they speak Quechua which I do not speak, but I understand a little bit. My parents speak Quechua. Unfortunately, Peru is a poor country where the corruption and bad administration have crippled the country’s development. Lack of technology and investment from other countries has made it very difficult to achieve our basic goals such as education. My parent did not finished school and they have to work very hard to support my brothers and sister. I had to work since I was fourteen year old helping my parent. I managed to finish my high school while I was working in the morning and I was attending school in the afternoon section. It was very hard. Even though, my parent did not have much education, they were very responsible and hard working people that I promise my self that I will change the family history and have an education so I can provide a better life for my family and future generations.
Perhaps, changing my family history was very important for me because since I was very young. I was good at mathematic, and I always wanted to go to a university to continue my education and have a career. Seeing my parent that they were working long hours with out benefit; it breaks my heart but my father did not have a degree so his pay was very low. At the moment I understood that no matter the situation, I needed to set my goal and pursuit a career. I remember many time I had some homework at school and I needed help, but my parent could not help me. I had a friend whose parents were teacher at different school. My friend did not have that problem with his homework. It was a very clear that I need to change my family history, so I decide to pursuit of knowledge by getting a career and one day I would help my children and be able to provide them.
Secondly, the lack of education in my parent motivates me to go on to achieve my goal and never gave up. I, myself, did not want to give up on my own goals, and I moved to the United States fourteen years ago in order to pursue an education. One way I have achieved my education is by never giving up. I started taking classes at an adult school for a period of time while I was working. A year later, I started at Foothill College. Soon, I moved and decided to transfer to De Anza College. Working and studying were not an easy task, but I needed to pay my bills and I had other responsibilities, too. I felt like I would never finish school because I was taking one or two classes at a time. I started working as a dishwasher. Then I was promoted to be the cook’s helper, and I was learning a lot of recipes and the production of different kinds of food. Also, school was very helpful because I was able to learn English and better communicate with my employer and coworkers. I took some computer classes at school and I learned how to use Excel, Access, and Microsoft Word. They were very helpful to use at work. A few years later I became a Chef and I was making a better salary, but I realized education was important and I needed to learn more about how to run a business such as interpreting financial statements and processing other administrative paper work. So I continued with my education at community college. I found that I was going in the right direction toward my education, but I was not sure about the kind of major I wanted to pursue. I needed to make a decision about whether to pursue a career or continue working in the restaurant as a chef; being a chef was not too bad except for the long hours and I was not able to move into any higher position. I could go to culinary school to get my certificate, but I had to ask myself one very important question, “did I want to be working in a kitchen until I retire”. Finally, I decided to be an accountant. Working and studying at the same time, it is not an easy task, but I was determinant not to gave up and was willing to keep on with goals and some day teach to my boys.
For instance, replacing the family history motivate me to find something that I enjoy or a career that can bring joy to my life. I remembered when my parent used to get home and I asked him if there were something wrong at work. He responded me that he was tired and I did not need to worry. However, I heard when he was talking to my mother that he did not like much to work on construction lifting a heavy bucket with cement for a construction. My father was a carpenter and he love doing furnishers and doors but for some reason he prefer not to work in construction. He did not have a choice but provide for the family. Achieving an education can gave me the option to work in something that I like and I am good at it. I liked numbers and I was good at analyzing and calculating them, and I wanted to learn more and more. I was interested in learning how to run all financial aspects of a business. I wanted to understand the concept behind the number; what was the meaning and structure of the business that led any company to its success or losses. While I was working, I managed to do payroll and schedules at the restaurant, but I was limited in doing more because I needed to learn other helpful tools and programs that were available, such as how to use QuickBooks and enter the debits and credits. I needed to learn how to enter data in the QuickBooks program, but I also needed to understand the concept of assets equaling the liabilities plus the statement of retained earnings. I knew that revenue minus expenses would give me net income. However, I needed to learn other areas that go in the financial statement such as taxes and other extraordinary income and the function of the Balance Sheet, Statement of Cash Flow, Income Statement and Retained Earnings Statement. I love pursuit my goal and my parent’s life encourage me to go on and make me realized to continue with something that I enjoy and can lead to my generation so they can have a good time and not working with bitterness.
Finally, my parent devoted their life trying to provide and teaching us principles that will help us to become a better person. My parent could not complete their education, as result, they limited to work for a low wage and I was affected as a child. I had a dream to attend to a university and have a career so I can be able to help my children when they need help with their homework. Perhaps, I want to be able to provide financially better to my family and work less and spend more time with kid. The necessary of my parent make me strong to continue and never gave up. After a long journey studying I feel that I am closer to conclude my career, and I am very proud because I work very hard and it required a lot of determination. Now that I am attending San Jose State, I hope that after getting my bachelor degree I can take the CPA exam. It is a long shot but I am willing to work hard to achieve my final goal.