The developing of my personal’s values was forging in a process in which several factors influence them. One of the first influences was the environment where I grew up. I was born in El Salvador in 1978, and shortly after my parents divorced approximately when I was only 6 months old. I grew up without mother, father and their guidance. My father immigrated to this country when I was one year old because of the lack of employment opportunities and the major the civil war that shake and depleted my country. My mother re-married when I was three years old and she moved to her husband’s house, leaving me behind to the care of my mother’s Aunt, whom happen to be the same wonderful lady that took care of my mother.
I don’t blame my parents; they were only 18 and 20 years old. I was raised by my grandmother, in some ways I was a fortunate child with divorced parents, because God gave me the opportunity to know this wonderful woman, whom my grandmother is. Although the personality traits and character are critical to determine your own person, also my Grandmother’s values play to this date vital roll. My Grandmother learned from her mother; respect, compassion, loyalty, honesty, persistency, determination, dedication and what I believe is the most meaningful aspect of life, family. She was a positive role model and I learned the same values that characterize her.
The next force of influence was my spiritual values; I believe that the bible is God’s word, and that this is the sourcebook for my everyday living.
I came to United States on 1996; everything was different in this county. I experienced other values and cultures, some of the values contradict my values. Even though School was a place of conflict, it was also the place where my values got re-shaped.
It was a cultural shock to find out that School and students didn’t have the same beliefs as me, and the sad thing was to realize that public schools don’t have bible school. At the beginning I was confused by the different values, but then I learned to respect their point of views without forgetting of mines. I did this by giving them the common decency of tolerance and allowed them to choose their belief. I didn’t let their values interfered with mines ether; my decision and my action were base on my personal and moral judgment.
The same values that are personally important to me I have transferred them to my children. I believe the values I learned from my grandmother were important influence in my development.
When I became an adult, I encountered a variety of values and ethical problems, specially in my previous job. The business model of the company was to provide unconventional loans to individuals on a more contractual basis meaning the loan-engaged was not base on a percentage ratio but rather in charging a large sum to the contract and many times the amount was not disclosed to the recipient of the loan. I notice that my boss make this deals just with Hispanic population. I saw many dubious, dishonest, and deceitful practices that affected my beliefs and values. Hispanic were the perfect target for him, because he knows that unfortunately, most of the Spanish speaking have lack of education and poor knowledge in regards finance transactions. At that moment I took a tough decision to look for another job.