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What Keeps Someone Motivated

In: Novels

Submitted By sergiomeza55
Words 692
Pages 3
Sergio Meza

March 10, 2015
Professor Bromberger
What keeps someone motivated? Have you ever came to the conclusion and asked yourself what someone does in order to stay motivated? Making decisions in life can have both positive and negative outcomes; nevertheless, Francisco Jimenez a young Mexican boy with many disadvantages exemplified that everyone has the ability to be successful and can achieve greatness and your background should not limit you. Success is what made Francisco push himself forward and stay motivated along the way. To begin, as a young boy Francisco Jimenez was obligated to work in the fields, which is a difficult job with horrible pay. Therefore, the little money that he earned was given to his family in order for them to make ends meet. Over time he developed a strong work ethic from his father that not only applied in the field but also in the classroom. He states, I increased my hours at Santa Maria Window cleaners, working from six in the morning until midnight” (194). Even though the amount of hours he was working was dangerous he knew that he needed to work in order to help provide for his family since his older brother was not living with them anymore. Thought his whole life his obligation was work and then came school; however, Francisco never lost sight of succeeding and obtaining his goals. Secondly, the support of his teachers played a key role in him wanting to become a teacher and attending college. Miss bell, an English teacher during his sophomore year felt that Francisco’s writing showed promise and helped encourage him to read Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. The book helped improve his writing and improve his essay grades. Even though his counselor had signed him up for carpentry classes and explained him the different vocational programs offered at his high school; however, Francisco quickly replied and explained that his plans were to become an English and to attend college. After being informed about the different scholarships offered to good students it motivated him to stay on top of his grades and that he would be compensated with money if he did. Even though many people felt that he would not obtain too much due to him being poor he wanted to prove everyone wrong by them not believing in him.
In addition, the role of his parents also helped him stay motivated and helped him have a vision of success. The way he saw his father work in the horrible working conditions through the years made him realize that he did not want to work under the same circumstances as his father. He knew that he could break the cycle of living the poor lifestyle by attending college and getting a college degree. Even though he worked hard he never complained but just went along with it because he knew that it was something temporary and in the future he could say he obtained his goals. In 9 hidden reasons to stay motivated by Zach Van Hart “when you’re motivated, you have a reason to do what you do. This can relate to Francisco because he knew that all the hard work to improve his English and getting good grades was going to help him in the long run.
To conclude, his ethnicity never let him feel that he was much more inferior than many of his classmates. He was proud of being Mexican and during the junior scandals he even managed to sing one of his fathers favorite songs Cielito Lindo which showed how much pride he had inside him even though he did not really care what the others would think. He wanted everyone to know that he was Mexican and that everyone can accomplish his or her goals. He ran for student body president and won which was a huge responsibility. The fact that a Mexican student won was important because it showed that minorities also have the ability to lead. This played a factor in him believing in himself because he knew that the school had his support and viewed him as a mentor to the student body.

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