Growing up I always knew my value as a woman. In my household, the women outnumbered the men significantly, yet men reigned superior. Being raised in a Mexican household you are taught family values and your role in the family.Women do all the cooking and cleaning and are at the needs of their father or husbands. Growing up in a different time era my mother’s perspective on family changed and she taught me to be independent and self-sufficient. My grandmother’s mother taught her to please her husband or father, she chose to live her life out differently and build her family to her beliefs.
               I have always known that my grandmother’s world revolved around her child and her being independent. I have begun to understand that her independence is not selfish; she did not have a choice or the opportunities that others received, she worked vigorously to accomplish and create something of herself. Being independent and being able to take care of herself and her son without receiving help from anyone is the American dream for my grandmother. Growing up my grandmother did not know what she wanted to be and she really didn't have a dream but growing up in a household where her mother played the female and male figure in the family and where she became the only source of income,” Growing up, we never had enough money because my mother raised 3 boys 1 girl and working one job made it difficult for us to expand on education although my mother prioritized education it made it difficult to pursue my dream and accomplish  school.”My grandmother was raised in Santa Monica and during the 50’s there was frequent stereotypes against mexicans and my grandmother attended a catholic school were the reputation of her older brothers affected her, school was something difficult for her to experience.
              At a  young age my grandmother lost her grandmother and her mother was in the hospital for 6 months. During this time my grandmother found herself struggling to take care of herself, “My grandmother and mother lived together, my grandmother died and my mother was in the hospital for 6 months I found myself with nobody to take care of me and I didn't know where I was going to eat, sleep or how I was going to wash my clothes and how I was going to get to school and my family came and took me away for 6 months until they got the family back together.” During this time my grandmother felt that she was learning to be independent. Her mother was an influential role model who was feisty and petite but strong willed. Even though the tragedy did affect her family she believed that her family was united. Later on, my grandmother enrolled into a career college, and became an ultrasound technician. She enjoys her job because of all the stories and events she is able to experience at first hand.
                My grandmothers favorite memories come from spending time with her son. She believes that loyalty and unity are core family values she is extremely delighted  that she is able to watch her son grow up and build a family of his own. She raised a child to the best of her ability and she protected her child and made sure nobody influenced him other than herself or they way she wanted him to be influenced.My grandmother believes that she has accomplished her American dream. She believes that the American dream is to own your own home and to be able to accomplish these goals for yourself builds character and teaches you to be grateful for the things you do have in life because countless of people do not have the same opportunities but if you focus on your dream you can accomplish it.And she encourages girls who do not have a male figure in their life to be diligent not just for themselves, but for girls all over the world to demonstrate that you can do it on your own and that you do not need the support of a male to be someone in life and that was something that she wasn't taught but forced to learn on her own
           Before interviewing my grandmother I did not realize the struggles she faced in such a deep level. She started from nothing and she built herself an empire but did not forget her core values. She did not rely on anyone to hand her anything and worked with the situations that she was put in. It teaches me as a young woman who will begin to create a separate life of my own to become independent and to become ambitious. To count my blessings and not the material things in life (even though some of them are considered a blessing). I will always appreciate my grandparents and my parents since they have all worked relentlessly to achieve the financial and social stability they have now.  And this interview has opened my eyes to realize that I can always improve myself for myself and to deal with the difficult obstacles that will later come to me later in life, and honestly, this interview made me question the person I aspire to be when I grow up and I have been blessed to have strong independent women in my family like my grandmothers and mother who have gone through difficult obstacles but put their pride aside to put their family in a stable place. Like the cliche “it will get ugly before it gets pretty” it was difficult work for my grandmother to fulfill her American dream and she faced hardships and gave up numerous things and revolved her world around her son at a young age, but she did it,  and now she is able to say she made something of herself and be sure that her family is proud of her.