Rodriguez's "scholarship boy"

In this reading Rodriguez labels himself as a “scholarship boy”, referring to the description used in The Uses of Literacy. A “scholarship boy” can have a large amount of different characteristics. But in Rodriguez’s case he was a good student, as well as a bad student, lived in two complete different worlds, sees life as a ladder and permanent examination, as well as other things. There are some ways in which I can relate to Rodriguez and his experiences, but in most I cannot.

I’ve always known the importance of my education. I’ve tried being the best student I could possibly be by copying down what my teachers say and memorizing what I need to know for tests and quizzes. All of the emphasis has gone to my grades. A quote on page 445 states, “The scholarship boy tends to over-stress the importance of examinations, of the piling-up of knowledge and of received opinions. I feel like I put a lot of stress on myself to do well in school, and I think this can relate a lot to Rodriguez’s experience. And, like Rodriguez’s parents, my parents always encouraged and supported me as well. And even with all of the encouragement in the world, Rodriguez always expected more out of himself and was never satisfied. On page 431 of the text Rodriguez states, “Always successful, I was always unconfident. Unfortunately, I can relate to this quotation. Although I have all of the support one could ever receive, I sometimes feel like I will never be good enough. The lack of self-confidence is something I feel Rodriguez and I have in common. He was never satisfied with what he was doing, so he persisted to achieve more and more.

My parents get a large amount of credit for my academic success, which they are more than deserving of. They read to me when I was a little girl, forced me to challenge myself, and have been with me every step of my road to success. The more success I had academically, the more I appreciated them. Not only were they proud to be my parents, but I was proud to be their daughter. This is extremely different to Rodriguez’s experience. On page 434 we can see that his two separate worlds of school and home drift further and further apart; “Gradually, necessarily, the balance is lost. He takes his first step toward academic success, away from his family.” I find this part of the reading frustrating to me. He has all of the encouragement in the world from his parents but continues to push himself away from his family. As hard it is for me to picture a family relationship like this, I know Rodriguez is under much different circumstances. He experiences a different home environment, with different cultural extremes. Rodriguez was embarrassed by his parent’s lack of education and used his schooling to grow culturally separated from them. I can’t relate to Rodriguez in this specific instance since both of my parents are well-educated, and when they ask what I learned in school, I’m able to tell them and have them understand and appreciate it. On page 438 Rodriguez states, “I wanted to be like my teachers, to possess their knowledge, to assume their authority, their confidence, even to assume a teacher’s persona.” It’s clear to see Rodriguez looked up to his teachers and professors, and hoped to one day be just like them. When I look at my parents, I see two lovely people that I consider role-models who can listen and relate to me, and make life a little less lonely.

It’s clear to see how successful Rodriguez became from his hard-work and undeniable effort. But, I don’t think an education needs to change who you are. Learning and achieving shouldn’t involve loneliness and seclusion. I feel the only way people have become truly successful is when they apply their knowledge elsewhere. On page 445 there is a quotation about the “scholarship boy” that relates to my feelings of this, “He discovers a technique of apparent learning, of the acquiring of facts rather than of the handling and use of facts.” It’s great to know an abundant amount of facts and figures, but if you’re not using what you know to help others and make yourself a better person, then none of it really matters. I’ve learned so much in life from outside experiences. In high school I wasn’t just a good student, but I was also a good friend, teammate, and daughter. Although Rodriguez has achieved more than I probably ever will in life, I feel he missed out on a lot of happiness.