It’s pretty difficult being a first gen grad from an underrepresented group working in a high pressure industry/role.

Here’s a quick thread to describe what i mean.

/ Within the Latino culture, we’re expected to

- Spend lots of time with family, daily, weekly, etc.
- Excel in school and our careers, so that we don’t disappoint our elders and the sacrifices they made for us
- Get married, buy a house, and have kids in our 20s

/ we’re also expected to take the burden off our cousins, parents and grandparents — when it comes to things like technology, paperwork, or just everyday things that they may not understand or be equipped to do themselves

/ I think it is difficult because oftentimes, family members don’t fully understand that our jobs aren’t ones that you really “clock out” at a certain time.

/ If they worked a 9-5 service job for 40 years, then they view the world of work as “once 5 PM hits, you’re off and you spend that time with family”. And anyone reading this who works in a highly competitive or demanding industry knows that just isn’t true most of the time.

/ So then you constantly find yourself either disappointing your family, or your job. And the only time that you can make them both happy is when you take that time & energy that you would’ve invested in yourself (to rest, decompress, learn, etc) & give it up to family/work.

/ I don’t think I’ve mastered this at all. Nor do I think I ever will.

But I have developed a system of habits, rituals, & routines that provide me with more work/life/family/personal harmony.

It still gets really stressful at times, but I think recognizing the situation helps

/ I’ve also found it helpful to explain (or trying to explain) to family members what I do for a living, how I work, the industry, schedules, the pressure, and how my self-time is necessary in order to function properly (not get aggravated, short tempered)

/ conversely, the family-first culture is beautiful. It’s what keeps us humble, hardworking, down to earth, and empathetic towards others.

I credit a lot of the things that I’ve been able to achieve in my life to the family oriented environment & love that I received growing up.