The Achievement of Desire

In Richard Rodriguez's "The Achievement of Desire," the narrator refers to himself as the "scholarship boy."  I believe that there is a little bit of the "scholarship boy" in us all, as we are all striving to achieve our academic potential. Let's be honest, if we weren't striving academically, we probably wouldn't be at the University of Florida.  For me personally, I could not identify with the narrator's home life, because my parents are both college-educated and expect my siblings and I to get good grades.  However, what I could identify with the "scholarship boy" on was the idea that he was not really very intelligent, just good at regurgitating information on tests.  I often feel that I learn things simply to do well on the test, not because I really have a desire to retain the information in any capacity.  I loved that the narrator kept mentioning how people always told him that his parents must be proud of him, because I have actually heard the same thing many times after receiving an award or any kind of recognition.  The thing is, I know that my parents are proud of me, but it's not so much a choice for me to get good grades as it is my "job," as my parents like to call it.  They tell me that as a student, my job is to get good grades, just as their jobs are to make money to support the family.  I have been brought up to see education as more of a burden than a wonderful opportunity that many people don't have, unfortunately.  I, like the "scholarship boy," enjoy reading in my free time.  I don't read the extreme amount that the "scholarship boy" does, but I do enjoy reading a good book from cover to cover every now and then.