Before
college, I never really thought about what I read because I was never really
into reading. I’m still not into reading, but I learned that it’s important to
understand what it is you are reading by annotating. I honestly didn’t know
what annotating was until this semester, and it’s really helped me develop my
reading skills. The RRJ assignments helped me deconstruct the chapters and understand
the links between the characters. This was a pretty interesting book and
meeting the author was an honor because I found out that Aurora was the first
character he made and she was based off of himself, Brando Skyhorse. When I first
read the book, I thought this would be another book I could add to my list of
boring books. When I got deeper into the chapters, I realized how much I actually
started to like the book. From all the characters in “The Madonnas of Echo
Park,” I mostly see myself as Aurora. Most of my life, I’ve been running away
from where I came from. You can say that I’ve become whitewashed because all
the people I hung out with were white. I started to forget how to appreciate my
own culture. I told my parents that I don’t want to marry an Asian because
there are too many Asians around me that I couldn’t breathe. Maybe it’s because
I know that’s what my family wants. Usually, when you’re told not to do
something, you do it because you were told not to. It’s the urge of wanting to
be different. The only difference between me and Aurora is that I found my way
back to my culture. I wonder if she ever will. The characters didn’t really
have an impact on motivating me to attend college because I always had the
motivation to work hard for a good future. I always had a dream that encouraged
me to continue my education so that I can live that dream fully. Realistically,
it’s hard for dreams to come true, but I believe that if I keep wishing and
believing I can do it, my wish will come true no matter what.