Like Tara, many kids grow up having a rough time knowing the best side of what life can give. In Chapter one, there is a long description of how her life was a child and a flashback of an event that has marked her life, the way she thinks, acts, and most of all, the memories or cinematic version as she calls it. Keeping it short, there is a story that was told to her and her siblings by her dad that haunts her a bit and scares her of upcoming events that might occur. Memories can impact in both a negative and positive way.
“Mine has crickets. That’s the sound I hear as my family huddles in the kitchen, lights off, hiding from the Feds who’ve surrounded the house.” Crickets are the symbol. Why could it be that crickets have a meaning in this scene? They symbolize her family, running through the house, hiding from the feds who are in search of the families that have kids not attending a public school and are staying home. Taking her family as the main example, her father doesn’t agree with sending his kids to a public school, instead he prefers they stay home and reading the bible as often as possible. His way of thinking and seeing life has affected his kids learning abilities.
Tara’s father built their house in the mountain area. Where they were located, the school bus never stopped by. Her dad either way did not believe in education and had clear that he could teach his kids more than a teacher would. Tara and her siblings grew up helping their parents collect herbs for any medical purpose and salvage metal. These kids were treated poorly by many because of their living conditions and because of their isolation in the small town of Idaho. Westover’s older brother left home and went to college to pursue his goals and dreams on his own. Later, convincing Tara to do so as well. Their grandmother from their father side had always pushed her son to get her grandkids in school and that would always lead to many arguments between her and her son because of disagreements they would have with their beliefs. Tara later starts her journey as an individual teen with no support or comfort from anyone to lean on when times would get rough on her on. She pushes herself to work extra on learning about many world events that had never been mentioned or spoken about to her. The ACT was a step ahead that she felt confident about and decided to take. Her results came back very well!
Tara had many issues that could have held her back from accomplishing her goals, such as students making fun of her lack of knowledge and calling her names, but her professors helped her stay strong. Because of her success, she continued her education at Harvard and later at Cambridge University. The way she saw life was like a war. Split sides battling, both have their pros and cons, both making her feel complete, both showing some type of love and care, both having a big picture of a great future. As a young girl, education is the only way to proceed into having a good future as an independent woman. Not many think of their family when it comes to them deciding what to do with their future, but Tara cared. She cared enough to chose education over her family because she knew that education would lead her to having what she needed in order to keep herself and her family safe and with less worries.
In this type of situation, what would you do, or who would you chose? Would you continue your education? Would you choose your families ideas on not getting an education ever and risking your own life and dreams? It is a tough decision for such a young girl to make. Religiously, your family comes before anything else, but how can you take care of your family and make enough to support them without any type of education? As Soloman Ortiz once quoted, “Education is the key to success” and her choosing it was the best for her.
Ezequiel Figueroa 