Richard Rodriguez lives a life filled with knowledge, but at what cost? Education is not free and the cost Rodriguez paid for at the cost of his childhood was unnerving. Not many people would want to give up their childhood in order to become a "scholar boy . He was a scholarship boy so enclosed in his studies that he had no time for his childhood. The scholarship boy does everything for his education. They keep everything bottled up and want to keep moving forward even if they leave their family in the past. Yet in the end he obtained the knowledge to realize what he's done. As for me it was not that exclusive either. I am the youngest of four kids in my family so my education was not always at the ＂top of the totem pole＂ at my house. For Rodriguez, he was a self taught scholar boy with his parents as a tiny limb in which he breaks off. I'm not saying my parents were not there for me, they were, but the way they were there for Rodriguez. ＂I'll try to do it myself＂ was my line as so was it Rodriguez's (Rodriguez399). That does not mean my parents never cared. See they would try to help but at some point everyones parents can not help them in their schooling, no matter how far along you go, but that is not a reason to resent your parents. Your parents are suppose to be a push factor, that means to push you to always do your best even if they cant help. As well as many other high-schoolers who are involved in a million other activities, so was I. I've been involved in Scouts (Which I have obtained the rank of Eagle now), Swimming, food drives, DECA, and many more to list. My parents knew in order to have a good life you needed to be educated and well rounded. So they knew to put my schooling before any of my activities, I did not always like this, but my parents always knew the best for me. Now that my brother and I have left for college we have left them with an empty nest. Though we do not see them