Astrid Cardoza-Perez is an immigrant from Guatemala. She is catholic and enjoys participating in Easter traditions with her strong family of 4. They gather and share stories from the Bible. She strives every day to be an amazing person, daughter, and student. One of her biggest goals in life is to become successful so she can give her mother everything she wants in the world. Astrid loves love, respect, authenticity, and loyalty. She enjoys practicing Catholicism because she says, “It helps me keep going with what I want in my life.” Religion is a major part of her culture and life. She is proud of her heritage because she comes from strong, persistent people, “…people who have to go through a lot of things and have to suffer, but for us that does not mean to give up right away because for us if we fall 99 times we get up 100 times, and we keep trying and never give up on our dream” (Astrid Cardoza-Perez).
She noticed a large cultural difference between Guatemala and the USA. Within her family and homeland, children were taught to be strong and care for themselves. They learn to do things on their own early in their lives. Mental health is less recognized and is often treated with tough love and working through it quickly with no professional help. Parents care deeply for their children and believe that working through life’s struggles independently helps their children become stronger, better-adjusted adults. While in the USA, youth unemployment is often encouraged, and mental health is addressed more often. While the parenting styles differ, all parents share the same goal: raising extraordinary children like Astrid.
Education in Guatemala is much different from that in the United States. They start in kindergarten and go through 6th grade; after that, if the child’s parents can afford to pay for university, they would go on to study further. There is no high school! You would go straight from middle school to college and begin studying your career or degree, only if your parents could pay the tuition. Children of families that were not wealthy often took farming or construction jobs. There is very little day care in Guatemala. Parents would often have their children with them while constantly multitasking.
We have discovered many differences between Guatemala and the USA. Both countries have their beauties and drawbacks. Thank you for reading this article, and make sure to wave hello when you see Astrid in the halls. A kind, motivated young woman with an amazing future ahead.
