Never have I taken my culture into consideration, but I would more than likely classify my culture as Latino/Hispanic. For starters, I was born in a lovely place called Chihuahua, Mexico. This place is the reason I consider myself a Latino. Why is this my culture you ask? My whole daily lifestyle revolves around this Hispanic heritage.
One thing is a dream in serving God, and another thing is to do it. When we came to the US with Adriana, my wife, was a new star for us. We got married before came. However, also was a new beginning in my ministry… God planted a new and bigger vision in our hearts.
This autobiographical essay will define my experience as a Dominican immigrant living in New York City. Being an American citizen with a Dominican background are extremely relevant to the process of political socialization. My family background is founded on the principles of democratic values, which taught to me by my mother and father. In New York City, I found a “melting pot” of different immigrants that allowed me to feel more accepted as a Dominican living in the United States. More so, these aspects of the socialization process provided a foundation for my belief in democratic values throughout my life.
Looking through my grandmothers closet clearing, I was tasked with clearing out unwanted belongings. After hours of cleaning, I found a peculiar tan box. Opening it, I gasped as I saw pictures being filled to the brim. The pictures were old, worn out, blurred, having to squint to make out the picture. Looking through the photos, I come across a man I’ve never seen before.
I am not white, but I am not Mexican either. I am, however, a first generation Mexican American with parents from San Luis Potosi, Mexico. Perhaps I do not know what it is like to cross the border that refrains me from being Mexican, or the color of my skin that refrains me from being white, but my own personal experiences make me the Mexican American that I am today. Growing up I celebrated the Fourth of July with fireworks, and the Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe with matlachines.
Going to a Christian school affected me because the Christian Church taught me what was right and what was wrong. So, if someone comes up to me saying that God isn’t real I’ll listen to them, but not agree with them on any subject that they're trying to persuade me to believe. I regard people that don’t have the same beliefs as me nicely because I don’t want to come
I was born in Colombia, South America and lived there until I turned seven. Before I moved to the states, I attended a public school and was on the competitive swim team for my school. I earned many awards the year and a half I swam for my school. I took pride in competing with girls three to four years older than me. I also remember how different things were there than they are here in the states.
Did you move around a lot when you were a child? When I was 9 I learned what it meant to lose all your friends and leave behind all you know because your mother has decided to move to the Mexican border in Arizona. Before we moved it was my purpose in life to sprout wings and go to a different dimension. For a while it stayed like this because I had friends that were just like me. After we moved I learned about Amelia Earhart in school and decided that I wanted to become a pilot and travel the world.
Growing up in an immigrant household in America, was difficult. I didn’t live, I learned to adapt. I learned to adapt to the fact that I did not look like any of my peers, so I changed. Adapted to the fact that my hair texture would never be like any of my peers, so I changed. Adapted to the fact that I was not as financially well off as my peers, so I changed.
Growing up as a first-generation Mexican American was a huge advantage for me in that it allowed me to grow up in a culturally diverse community. I learned how to work well with people of all backgrounds and empathize with people from all walks of life. However, while being the first in my family to go to college was a momentous accomplishment, the lack of instruction and guidance lead me to commit many mistakes that could have been easily avoided during my first years at college. My timidity and downright arrogance lead me to believe that I did not need anyone’s assistance and thus I found myself denial that there was a problem in terms of my grades during my first semesters. I have since addressed this issue and have worked diligently to
I believe the term, hispanic, itself does not define who I am. I define who I am and who I want to become. However, I do come from a Mexican heritage. Coming from a Mexican heritage has influenced and deeply impacted my life. My heritage has taught me a lot.
I identify as a Latina. I have always considered myself as a Latina, but throughout time, I believe that I have assimilated more into a white individual because of the privilege that I hold and because I have lived in the US most of my life. I have received mostly negative messages from those who are not from my ethnicity. My peers and I were told we wouldn’t graduate high school and be laborers for the rest of our lives. With the current politics, I believe that this still holds true where some people still hold stereotypes and give oppressing messages to Latinos.
Freshman year, I was not sure how my beliefs were going to be received. As it turned out, many people were accepting. However, others were confused, and some were simply mean. Through the years, my faith was present on the grounds of jokes, rude comments, and occasionally, hostility.
When I was thirteen, approximately a year ago, my family took a vacation to Cancun. The trip was pretty cool. Cancun was warm, tropical, and most of all supplied endless amounts of food in the hotel. Like most vacations, people want to get the most they can do with their time there. For me, my last bit of fun would have been crashing into the waves, I had discovered, on the new beach in front of my hotel.
As a teenager moving to a new country with a different culture, different language, and being thousands of miles away from everyone I grew up with was not an easy change, however, that was precisely what I did in January of 2013 when I came to the United States with my father. My whole world changed since, and shaped my way of thinking. From learning English, adjusting to a new culture, experiencing my first snow and finding my way in my new country, my life has been an exciting adventure. My parents brought me to America almost 5 years ago to have a better life, and to get a better education.
