Andrae from Mexico
My father was born in a town in Oaxaca and, I believe, in conditions of poverty. Without enough food or education, he arrived in Mexico City. With his work he paid for his studies and later became a sales manager for an international company. My mother was not able to complete her studies since for her father that was not well seen. She started working as a secretary at age 20 and later started a family. With the unconditional support of both, I managed to graduate from university with a scholarship of 40% and today I am looking to take a master’s degree. Besides my father, neither of my cousins or uncles from either family managed to have a career. I grew up in an ambivalent world, on the one hand I perceived the poverty of my uncles and cousins who lived from day to day and on the other hand, I lived with the middle class that my parents had reached and in which I was educated. This brought with it challenges of not knowing how to behave in either world but, at the same time, learning and finding the motivation to continue growing like my parents did.
I believe that education can change a society from its roots. Education has shown me that there are other worlds and that knowledge is not static. The best ideas I’ve had have come from crossing knowledge from one area to another to find the best possible solution. In addition, with knowledge I have managed to return a little to the society that helped my parents to get ahead and to share a little of what I now know with my family that continues to face financial problems. I want to motivate them to pursue an integral well-being, in which they can have emotional balance, food and motivation at their table but above all, that they never stop looking after those who need it most.