Reflection on Access to Education

I never realized how much I could relate to Richard Rodriguez's experiences in school. After my one-on-one I decided to change the direction of my original paper. My most recent paper argued that if one doesn't have access to the person one is, it hinders the progress one has both as a student and a person outside of school. I have trouble identifying as a Cambodian because I can't speak the Khmer language, thereore I find it hard to socialize with other Cambodian people. When I can't socialize with a certain group of people that I should be able to fit in with, it's obvious that I'm not one of them. My parents and teachers had good intentions when they taught me the English language but I'm discovering now that I'm a product of assimilation. I read over Rodriguez's article to remember what it was about and it was slightly painful and relieving for me to read. It was painful in the sense that I know that I felt exactly the way Rodriguez felt for being annoyed at my parents' grammatical errors and them not being able to help me with my homework. But it was also relieving to know that it is indeed possible to lose a language and also a part of my identity. I thought it was a ridiculous claim and I beat myself up about it, but now that I have thought and written about it, I really do believe it.