My Grandmother as My Role Model: Her Role in Shaping My Identity

The identities of Americans are diversified. One’s identity is made up of a person's culture, heritage, personality, and how they strive to succeed. The identity of a person is created, through the hardships faced and their history, whether it is that one is born in America or immigrating from another country.

My grandmother, Qin Bin Li, who was born in China, comes to America to visit us every year. My mother and father would tell me that when I was a baby, my grandmother would look after me while they were at work. Even many years since, my grandmother would visit us and watch over me in the summer. My grandmother is my role model. She had become an important factor to how my identity was created.

My grandma grew up on a farm, having little money, and not many resources to support her family. Because of the poor situation, my grandmother was not able to pay for school and receive education. She spent most of her days minding the crops and taking care of the animals, for that was the only way of income in her family. My grandmother would wake up at dawn, to start her chores on the fields, and didn’t stop until all the tasks were done, which was sometime around after sunset. By the end of each day, her hands would be covered in mud and her clothes would be all dirty, and yet she never made a complaint.

Her hard-working personality and perseverance later then helped her start a happy family of her own. After having a family, she knew that to support them, she had to work extra hours. My grandmother loved her children and wanted to give them the opportunities that she did not get. She wanted them to not have to rely on working in the field for earning money, but to send them to school, and hopefully find a job that interests her children. She took every money-earning opportunity given to her and battled many hardships to ensure her children’s futures will be bright. Unfortunately, her husband soon died of cancer when my mother was eight years old. She was heartbroken, but she believed the best choice was to honor him and take good care of her three kids.

Many years later, I was born. My grandmother cared so much for me. When I was a baby, she would spend her free time taking care of me and humming lullabies until I am calm. I would remember how she held my hands as we walked and the smile on her face. As I got older, around the age of 5, my grandma decided it was about time that I learned Chinese, her native language. We sat on the couch for hours, reading the books she brought from China and singing traditional songs on the CDs. She would point her finger at the Chinese characters, teaching me how to read and properly pronounce them. She would say the words many times as I tried to imitate the pronunciation.

“Chinese characters are like pictures. Try to pretend you are reading a drawing. Let’s try again.”

I was not one for learning new languages, but she had much patience and never stopped encouraging me. For every day, during the summers that she would visit, we spent our mornings studying Chinese.

“If you don’t study hard, regret is what you will have in the future,” my grandmother spoke in Chinese, reminding me every day to work hard and to not take anything for granted.

My grandmother helped shape who I am. I was truly inspired by her stories and everything she has done. She showed me being a hard worker will bring happiness. She never gave up, which is why she is here with me today. My grandmother is a very positive person, always finding the good in every person. She has taught me the importance of passing on our heritage, our tradition, and our culture. With the help and encouragement from her, I’ve learned a new language, which I use daily now to communicate with my parents, family, and friends.

I have developed a positive personality, which helped me become happier and allowed me to look at the bright side. I have an ethic of a hard worker, which has brought me many successes in my education and extracurriculars. In addition, I learned the history of my family's cultures and traditions and how my life has been based on it. My grandmother helped me embrace my Chinese background, and through the process of that, my American background.

I’ll owe all I have to my grandmother. Because of her, I am who I am today.