Who am I? I regularly take a moment to understand who I am and who I yearn to become. I am first defined by Anglos as an uneducated female. At the same time, to my own ethnicity and culture, I may just be an ordinary female who is destined to grow up to become a respectable and caring housewife. Without questioning these assumptions, there are moments I come to believe I should fall into the expectation.…
I am a Mexican-American woman with certain views of the world. I don’t believe that my place in the world is next to a man, nor do I believe that my sole purpose in life is to procreate. I am a woman who needs and wants her independence. I am also a 33 years old working class woman.…
My great grandfather came to America from the Dominican Republic on a boat to provide a better life for the many generations of his family to come. My great-grandfather’s perseverance and courage always inspires me to always work hard. Although my first language was English, I am learning Spanish now so I can become more connected with my heritage. I never had much of a chance to learn about the Dominican Republic from my grandparents because of the language barrier between us. My Dominican background is important to me because of the rich culture.…
Amber What is a warrior? What does it mean to be a fighter? Every time I look at my little 4-year-old cousin, Amber, she reminds me of what a warrior is. Amber Marie and her sister Alexia Rose were born 4 months premature and they weighed 1 pound 5 ounces.…
I AM DOMINICAN! WAIT NO I AM AMERICAN! Wait no I’m neither. How can it be that I’m neither. I was born in Dominican Republic however I have lived in America since I was two years old.…
Where I was waving “Adios” to my mother, the others were waving “Goodbye” to their parents. Torn between two worlds is what I thought I would always be. As a Mexican-American I believed that I would never be fully Mexican or American. I believed that I would never really fit into one specific group and would be target of exclusion all my life.…
Being born in the Dominican Republic, and raced there until the age of nine. When I came to this country is was overwhelming. I did not speak the language, and adapting to a different culture was hard, but slowly it happened. In changing cultures, I also wanted to change the fact that I was Hispanic because others viewed me as being different in a bad way. I wanted to be Americanized, and I did.…
I learned to work hard, be dedicated to my work as a student, to never give up on something even…
For example, participation in theater productions in middle school taught me individual responsibility. In a musical, each person must memorize their lines, choreography, and harmonies inside out to put on a polished show. So I learned how to budget my time so I could practice weekly for opening night. Another after-school occupation of mine, volleyball, trains me to get along with others. Playing with girls disparate from me on a high school freshman team taught me how to see past differences.…
I credit the development of my personal values to my caring family and Cuban culture. My family was blessed with earning entrance into America through the Diversity Visa lottery in 1998. My father was a factory worker in the countryside when he began his personal rebellion against communism. He spent a year's gathering materials and hand building a house for him and my mother to move into, postponing their marriage until the project was finished, just to have it taken away by the regime. Emigrating to the U.S. was overall a difficult operation, especially as a first generation from my family to do so.…
My country is Colombia, I was lived most of my life there. I was actually born in Ecuador, where I live for about 3 years. I then moved to the U.S.A because my mom married a guy who lives here in Houston TX.. Now I have lived for about 3 years in the States and I am used to a lot of the ways that people have here.…
Coming from a Hispanic background means that I have the ability to do more than my peers. Growing up in the United States and living in a Hispanic household gave me the chance to have more than one cultural view. Having more than one cultural view allowed me to develop an open mind that helped broaden my views, and helped me in my life. However, I was often told that the world looks more at your race than it did intelligence, character and integrity. For a while, I believed that statement due to the fact that in middle school, I noticed that there were more successful white people than any other race.…
Being Hispanic carries so much more meaning than being just another race, it is a lifestyle. It's making delicious tamales with my entire family every year for Christmas festivities. It's the unexpected frijoles inside that butter container in the fridge. It's all your aunts repeatedly telling you that you look fat, yet they’ll keep serving you more food because they care about you. It's that fear when you hear a knock on the door because it’s probably one of your various relatives with their entire family.…
Summer of 2016, my family and I made a trip to Puerto Peñasco, Mexico. The city of Puerto Peñasco, also known as Rocky Point is located on the Gulf of California. It's known for its beautiful scenery and dune-backed sandy beach. Tons of people around the world come to Rocky Point every year to unwind and have a good time. There are several reasons why Puerto Peñasco was such a memorable trip.…
Throughout my life I have been part many diverse cultures and of many community that contain a wide range of race and ethnicity. I was born in Ecuador and moving to the United States was a huge slap in the face. The culture and the way thing were done here compared to my home country was totally different. The life style in Ecuador was harsh and unpleasing but in the states life was so much more pleasurable with all the opportunities that are given me. The only problem is that people where closed minded.…