"Your parents must be very proud..."

    Richard Rodriguez explores his success in The achievement of desire.  Rodriguez believes that the more education he received, the further he alienated his parents and culture.
    As a college student I can relate to this.  When I was eighteen I took the biggest step of my life.  I did this for the achievement of desire.  In order to achieve my desire I had to move away from my friends and family.  My desire was to educated and get out of my dead-end small town.  Five people out of my graduating class went to a university, only three of them went back for a second year.  I am very proud of the fact that I am on of the people that went to a university, and succeeded.  This has alienated me from my friends and my family though.  I live such a different life than my old friends.  Many of my peers got married right out of high school, and already are building on their family.  When I go back, I am on a totally different level than what were once my best friends.  It is hard, because I also feel alienated from my family.  I am the oldest, and while I am not perfect for some reason they see me this way.  My younger sister who is in high school is resentful of me because of my success.  She is very intelligent, but it is a different intelligence than me.  She sometimes is very short with me when I try to encourage her.  This is hard for me because we used to be very close when I live at home.  She said she feels like I abandoned her.  
    I am at the University of Florida, and I am a very different person than I was two years ago.  This is because my education and my success.