Rodriguez's story made me reflect upon my own experiences throughout my education. I cannot connect to his cultural divergence, but I am reminded of my previous idolization of teachers, and like many other students who have posted, of struggles balancing my education and my extra-curricular/social life.

My mother was a teacher. My grandmother was a teacher. I have always idolized my teachers, and oftentimes placed them on pedestals throughout my education. I knew from a young age that I wanted to be a teacher, and I made a point to analyze every teacher that I had, grouping teachers into people whose teaching styles are admirable, or contemptible.

My educational experiences in elementary school and middle school seem to have an inverse correlation to Rodriquez's schooling. In elementary school, I was placed in my school's gifted and talented program, P.A.C.E. My mother was excited, because to her, it meant that I was smart;ahead of the game. To me, it meant that I was different. P.A.C.E. students were pulled out of the general classroom several times a day to participate in advanced group lessons. Every time the P.A.C.E. coordinator came into my classroom, I felt like I was being punished. The rest of my friends got to read in small groups together, and socialize. They always seemed to have more fun.

Much to my dismay, I continued with P.A.C.E. throughout elementary school and middle school. At lunch, P.A.C.E. students were invited to participate in various tests, puzzles, and mind-teasers in the library. My mother forced me to go to every P.A.C.E. related opportunity available to me, which meant me missing out on the biggest social event: Lunchtime. Although I did become friends with other P.A.C.E. students, and I enjoyed going on special field trips and getting out of class sometimes, I resented my experiences with P.A.C.E. I had many fights with my mother that ended in me screaming things like "I don't want to be 'smart,' I just want to be like everyone else."

Rodriguez describes that "scholarship boy" saying that "his academic success distances him from a life he loved, even from his own memory of himself." I remember feeling like I a two-sided individual. In school, my teachers commended my creativity, telling me that I have the potential to do great things, if I continued to focus on my studies. But when it came time to hang out with my friends, I never talked about the cool things that I learned, or my new favorite books. I joked around; I was silly, not serious.

My mother pushed me towards my advanced classes, programs, and summer workshops. Rodriguez oftentimes pushed himself. Rodriguez wanted to be above average, whereas I wanted to be average. I recognize now that I am lucky to have been given all of the educational opportunities that I've had, and I am thankful that my mother forced me to do all of the things that I didn't want to do. I did not have the self-derived ambition that Rodriguez exhibited throughout his life, and If I had turned my back on my academics, I could be living a very different life than I live today.