Can you imagine living in a girls-only family? I mean a family that has only girls, no boys. I surely cannot! Firstly, the sight of many kids makes me feel anxious. I can imagine a house where when one kid cries and other kids follow pursuit. In addition, girls are more likely to cry a lot more than boys. I feel terrified just thinking of living under such circumstances. Pamela Vitela is a woman who lives in this kind of a Mexican family, and she is the eldest girl in her family. Why did I say she is a woman? Because she is already 18 years old and in Mexico, when girls turn 16 years old, their families throw a big birthday party, as pompous as a wedding. This is called the15th birthday party “Quinceanera.” This means that her age has marked her transition from a girl into a woman and now the parents will allow her to have boyfriends or take up responsibilities that are more adult. Thus, Pamela now is a woman.
Pamela was born in 1996 in a normal Mexican family, who lives in Chicago. Now she is a University student studying at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is major in Accounting. Her mother is good at Finance, perhaps, which is the reason why her major is accounting. She wants to be a normal person with a high aim to have a good job, which she really loves that is, working for a big company in Chicago downtown. You may ask why in Chicago. One of the most important things she loves is her family she does not want to live far from her family. Also, she loves Chicago; she told me she never wants to go another city to have a new life. Therefore, she loves what she has now and does not wish to change a thing. On the other hand, she never went to another city, which means from her birth until now, Chicago is her whole life. That is very contrary to me. I am now going aboard to America. So sometimes, she makes me feel she might be afraid of trying new things. She belongs to a Catholic family. Her parents are from Mexico. As I told earlier, her family has six women. Her mother, her father, and the rest of her family are all girls. She is the oldest sister, and since she is the oldest child in her family, she needs to take care of her sisters. That has made her feel very tired of babysitting for little children, although she loves them. If I were she, I might go to another city to make my new life when I become an adult. In my opinion, I do not think it is the oldest child’s duty to take care of the youngest because that child himself has a life of its own. Therefore, she does not want to have too many kids after she gets married. Having maybe one is perfect for her. As a traditional Mexico family, especially according to Catholics, there is a belief that more kids mean more happiness. That makes her feel bad. Her parents really want her to have many kids. Although, she does not have a boyfriend now, she had one some time ago. However, she did not let him meet her parents and her sisters, because she thinks the man who makes her feel special, must take care of herself and her sisters. Only then can he become her boyfriend. If not, she will leave him. In my opinion, her family is the first thing for her. Everything she chooses for herself must be in the best of interests for her family.
In my opinion, she is an optimistic woman; she thinks everything that happens is bound to have a good result. Like when she chose Accounting as her major, at first she felt that she loved numbers. Then she found out that her mother is also good at Accounting. However, her mother cannot speak English very well. Hence, she can be much better than her mother can. Also, she believes that her sisters must have some reason to be her sisters. So she never gets mad at her sisters even when they ruin her belongings or cause a mess.
Her family is starkly different from mine. I am the only child in my family and my parents want me to be more independent, which is why they let me go aboard far away from my home. (My hometown is in China and my parents reside in China).
However, thinking of Pamela and her family has really changed my mind. For the first time in my life, I am thinking about living in a family full of girls. In addition, this has taught me a good lesson of “what is the duty in the family”. She loves her family very much, and her love for them never diminishes. This made me feel I need to go back to China in the winter break to see my parents and spend quality time with them.
