It is often debated that in order for a multi-cultural being to achieve academic success he/she should leave his/her culture behind and completely dive into the world of scholars. Richard Rodriguez, author of Achievement of Desire, supports this argument through his own personal experience of academic success. Judith Ortiz Coffer, author of women in the front of the of the sun, does not support this thesis she believes that all she achieved academically was with out losing either one of her cultures. Gloria Anzaldua, author of Border Lands: La frontera, correlates with Cofer by exposing her views on an academically successful culturally competent being.

In “The achievement of desire” Richard Rodriguez argues that in order t be academically successful you must embrace the academic world. In other words, you must disconnect with any cultural background that does not adapt to a successful environment. Rodriguez through his personal experience concluded that his alienation from his family and culture designated him towards his success. What Rodriguez believes is that to be academically successful you must give in and forget. Rodriguez writes “He has to be more and more alone, if he is gong to ‘get on’.” Richard Rodriguez’s point is that in order to continue on with his education he was to isolate himself from his family and culture. Although I agree with Richard Rodriguez’s example that family may cause many distractions and contradictions to school life, I cannot accept his over riding assumption that one must completely block out family and move away from our roots.

In the “Women in the Front of the Sun” Judith Ortiz Cofer argues that in order to be success you must acquire acquisitive memory. In other words you must be able to remember all about your culture and be able to enrich your self by understanding. Ortiz through her own personal experience concludes that it is possible to mix your cultures with out being torn apart between them. What Ortiz believes is in the art of alternation; anyone should be able to transition between them effortlessly. Ortiz writes “ My mission as an emerging writer became to use my art as a bridge, so that I would not be like my parents struggling between two cultures, always fearing the fall, anxious as to which side they really belonged to; I will be crossing the bridge of my design and construction, at will, not abandoning either side, but traveling back and forth with out fear and confusion as where I belong- I belong to both sides”. Her point is that she should be able to keep both of her cultures a live with out being cultivated by the academic world or even having to choose just one side, she chooses though to build a bridge mentally to which she will travel back and forth to transition between her cultures. I agree with Judith Ortiz Cofer because she never once thought of abandoning either one of her cultures. She gives gratitude to being multi-cultural because this has helped her in her career by being able to tell stories and relate to more people. Her diverse background has helped her on the way to become academically successful.


In “Border Lands: La Frontera “ Gloria Anzaldua defends that she is a Meztiza and that makes her who she is, who shes become, and who she has embraced. In other words having two juggle her cultures has brought to her a new way of thinking and understanding. Anzaldua through her own experience notices that people no matter what culture try t separate all their cultures from each other when they could just give in to the world of mestizage. Anzaldua writes” la mestiza under goes a struggle of flesh, a struggle of borders, and an inner war. Like all people we perceive the version of reality that our culture communicates. Like others having or living in more than one culture, we get multiple, often opposing messages. The coming together of two self -consistent but habitually incompatible frames of reference causes un choque, a cultural collision. ” Her point is that la mestiza is a multi-cultural person he jumps in a melting pot where everything is mixed and one must not hold any concept of belief in boundaries. I agree with Anzaldua because she believes people of a muli-cultural background must not separate their cultures but understand them and tolerate all their contractions. Anzaldua is an Indian in a Mexican culture a Mexican in an Angle point of view and she is perfectly fine with that.

If one really wants to stay a part of something like our culture we will have to make an effort to do so. Society is really good at setting boundaries and labels. I think it is possible to balance out school and academic life, you do not have to set them away from each other, instead you can link them because they both are apart of you and should be or can be a part of your goals. Understanding one’s culture can be challenging especially when some of us come from different cultures but it is essential for our own personal development to cope with the different cultures norms, beliefs, labels, traditions and boundaries. It’s important to hold on to your culture and not let go to prove to society that it does not choose who we are but we do. If we succeed in both cultural –family world along with the academic world we will become effect culturally competent individuals more capable of doing more things than those who choose not to stick with their culture. We must not distinguish and let go but rather learn and be apart of our cultures.