Education has a very high value in my family. College was not an option, and grades are always expected to be high.

Both of my parents are college graduates, and  I didn’t really have a choice in whether I would attend college or not.  I think that if I would have had a choice,  I still would have chosen to go to college, because I highly value education myself and enjoy learning, but my values are obviously influenced by those of my family.

I grew up speaking and writing English as my first language, so that has not been a challenge for me. My parents are the parents who corrected my grammar mistakes all my life, and questioned my usage of words and phrases such as “That’s so random.” I know that it’s affected me because I correct everyone else’s grammar mistakes in my head all the time, and am probably more careful about the words I choose to use.

I also grew up taking a dual curriculum in Hebrew and English, both at home and at school. In school, the morning classes were always in Hebrew, and the afternoon classes were in English. And at home, although we didn’t speak Hebrew, we weave Hebrew words into our English conversations at all times.

My parents put a lot of emphasis on high achievements, and on succeeding in everything. I think that that has highly influenced many aspects of my own work ethics and values.