In my life, I have been blessed to be healthy, loved, and cared for. I do not consider myself to be in a position to say I have overcome adversity when there are many people that truly have. Nevertheless, I have overcome myself and realized who I am.
Growing up, I have been surrounded by two cultures: Puerto Rican and American, my mother being Puerto Rican and my father being Scottish-Irish-American. Yet, I felt ashamed of my Hispanic culture, mostly because people never considered me as Puerto Rican by my physical appearance. My family always referred to me as the “gringa,” or American, of the family. My mom used to speak to me as an infant in Spanish, but my father did not speak the language. Consequently, she did not speak often to me in Spanish. As a result, I believed rarely muttered a word in Spanish …show more content…
I remember in middle school during standardized testing, I once read my sticker that is attached to the test packet with all of my identification information, and it read “W” for White. I was confused when I saw it because I was more than white.
I did not start appreciating my culture until I took my first Spanish class in eighth grade. I was scared to take the class because I was neither fluent in the language nor did I know how to write any words. All my knowledge was from overhearing my mother speak with our family and from visiting Puerto Rico multiple times, but I was not confident at all.
After being in the class, I realized that I loved being able to communicate with others in Spanish and I was actually good at it. That year learned a lot about my culture and other Hispanic cultures. I continued Spanish when I entered high school. I enjoyed myself in that class. Yes, it was challenging, but my instructor, Mrs. Ferrer, had faith in me. She taught me not to doubt myself and that year something had changed within me. Not only was I was confident in speaking Spanish, but I was confident in
Growing up, I have been surrounded by two cultures: Puerto Rican and American, my mother being Puerto Rican and my father being Scottish-Irish-American. Yet, I felt ashamed of my Hispanic culture, mostly because people never considered me as Puerto Rican by my physical appearance. My family always referred to me as the “gringa,” or American, of the family. My mom used to speak to me as an infant in Spanish, but my father did not speak the language. Consequently, she did not speak often to me in Spanish. As a result, I believed rarely muttered a word in Spanish …show more content…
I remember in middle school during standardized testing, I once read my sticker that is attached to the test packet with all of my identification information, and it read “W” for White. I was confused when I saw it because I was more than white.
I did not start appreciating my culture until I took my first Spanish class in eighth grade. I was scared to take the class because I was neither fluent in the language nor did I know how to write any words. All my knowledge was from overhearing my mother speak with our family and from visiting Puerto Rico multiple times, but I was not confident at all.
After being in the class, I realized that I loved being able to communicate with others in Spanish and I was actually good at it. That year learned a lot about my culture and other Hispanic cultures. I continued Spanish when I entered high school. I enjoyed myself in that class. Yes, it was challenging, but my instructor, Mrs. Ferrer, had faith in me. She taught me not to doubt myself and that year something had changed within me. Not only was I was confident in speaking Spanish, but I was confident in