My Experience With My Heritage

I’ve always been proud to be Mexican-American. I recognize that this aspect of myself makes me unique. I represent a rich culture with so much to offer. My family immigrated to North Carolina in the late 90’s; however, almost two decades of separation from our hearth hasn’t dulled our Mexican culture and pride. Now, more than ever, it is important for young Hispanics to embrace their roots. It is imperative for young Hispanics to send a message that being American and Hispanic isn’t mutually exclusive. Hispanics, first-generation, second-generation, or even fourth generation, have so much to offer to the United States. I embrace my Mexican heritage- my Hispanic heritage, because I want other young people to do so too. I want to lead by example and one day be able to pass the torch to a next generation of young Hispanics.

I am a U.S. born citizen. My parents moved to the United States in 1984 without knowing anything about this country. Looking for a fresh start and new opportunities, my parents settled in Houston. With hardly knowing any English, my parents knew this was the place to make dreams become a reality. Luckily, I had older siblings to look up to whenever I needed help. Like Lahiri, I was trapped in between two different cultures while I was growing up. At home, I only spoke Spanish, but in school it was English. My habits and customs were different than others. Life as an immigrant’s offspring can be very difficult. As I grew older, I allowed myself to open my eyes and see the beauty of being an American from Hispanic descent.

In this country which is almost different from my parents and my ancestors' country. I have lived two years, I saw and learned many things different from my culture. At the time, I was trying to forget my previous life and be able to adjust to the new country and start over again. It was not easy for me, but I knew that I will not be able to live the same life style that I had it in my country Iraq. So, here I would mention about some aspects of my experience to live in the USA as an immigrant. In terms of work, new cultures adaptation, and education.

Based on my own ancestry, I believe that I have 90% to have diabetes Type II because my mom, my grandmother, all my aunts from my mother side, and even my cousin, that is only 16 years old, have diabetes Type II. I have too much possibilities that I can have diabetes Type II when I get older because in my own ancestry, just from my maternal side, almost everybody has diabetes Type II.

My heritage hardly affects me in any way, but one way it does affect me is the way I speak. Some of the words that I say not a lot of Americans say. Some of them are like Oma. Oma in America is translated to Grandma. My family uses that word when we talk to my Great Grandma. I don't even know her real name, I just know that she is “Oma”. We also used to call my Great Grandpa Opa, which translates in America to Grandpa. Before he died, we called him Opa and my Oma, Oma. We also say Gazuntite. In America that means bless you, which a lot of Americans say. I think we use this word only because we think it’s funny, but it is still a German word and we still use it.

Your character, values, aspirations, and the things you enjoy are all influenced by your heritage and what that heritage means to you. Your heritage may shape a lot of your life, from your appearance to your abilities. In my case, my parents come from Loja, a humble city in Ecuador 3,654 miles away from where we now live, Los Angeles. Although I have lived all my life in the States, the culture my parents come from will always play an important role in my character.

Correspondingly on my ethnical background,education is one of the many important aspects in my life.Since I was young, I have been told that education was the definition of key to success in life.Being the eldest daughter,in my family I have always been encouraged to score well on tests,take advanced classes and to study constantly.As a young child,I took school work seriously and aimed to achieve good grades.Certainly,by getting into the habit of studying and doing my homework I progressed on achieving more academic awards.With this in mind, going to highschool was a turning point to me because I have realized that all the coursework I have been doing for the past twelve years will determine if I will go to college. Throughout my high school

Today is appears we are living in a world that is spinning faster and faster each day.

When I was seven my family took a three week long trip to Costa Rica, where I was exposed to both latino culture and the Spanish language for the first time. I fell in love with Costa Rica. Everyone was so friendly, local children invited my brother and I to play soccer and chess with them, people would smile at us on the street and ask us where we were from, genuinely interested to meet someone from somewhere different. Later on my family backpacked around Cuba, where once again the latino culture was evident. The beautiful lively and expressive Spanish language paired so well the colourful and welcoming cultures of Central America. During both of these trips I remember wishing I could speak the language in order to have more meaningful conversations and encounters, but in truth it felt like more trouble than it was worth.

Frist on my list is my heritage/culture since my whole entire life revolves around the idea of being Pakistani. The food I eat at home, the way I dress when meeting my Aunty or Uncle. Even the way I talk at home all stems from my culture. My family is also a big part of who I am, being one of five siblings and a girl is not exactly easy. Being the second oldest, and the little one’s favorite play mates. Religion is also important to me, my parent put me in a private school just so I would have a highly religious background. It's something that been ingrain in my life since I was born so it carries weight of my actions, why I do or do not do certain things. My education, I been put through a private school my whole life, my parents found education

On my Dad’s side, my heritage is Dutch. My great great grandmother actually immigrated here from the Netherlands when she was just 14. I have known about this side of my heritage since I was young, because my grandmother loved talking about it. On my moms side I am Scottish and Lithuanian. However I am not much connected to this side of my heritage, and know little about it. On my mothers side of the family my ancestors immigrated a long time ago, so I don’t think it was something they found interesting or wanted to talk about. Unlike on my dads side where my grandmother knew her grandmother who immigrated, and could tell us personal stories about her.

The band was playing loud with the help of a tambourine and an accordion, large families were dancing in circles around the stage under the hot sun, and when they needed a break everyone gathered around the authentic Mexican cuisine food truck, Taqueria Leos, and ordered some tamales with pineapple salsa on the side.

It’s crazy to think that the way you were raised is what has made you become the person you are today. Everyone has their own story about how they were raised, where they were raised, and who they were raised with. Each person has their own type of heritage with how they are raised based upon their family, where they were raised, religion, family traditions, values, and beliefs. The way you were raised in life has influenced your personality. The way you act and the way you are viewed as are both influenced by your family’s heritage.

Living in a new country that is not of your native descent can often make a person feel singled out and leaves them wondering where do I belong. Born in Argentina, Jonathan resided in the city of Córdoba with his family and twin brother. Though Jonathan and his brother were both born in Argentina, their parents were both from Brazil and immigrated to Argentina in the 90s. Growing up a Brazilian in the city of Córdoba, Jonathan was naturally brought up learning to speak Portuguese from his parents instead of traditionally learning Spanish. In his home life in Argentina, he was raised with traditional Brazilian values instead of Argentinian values. At a young age, Jonathan had a sense that he didn’t belong to his community due to how he was raised and the language barrier, although he didn’t think too much of the language barrier because he was able to learn Spanish quickly. “Growing up there, I felt like an immigrant there because I didn 't speak Spanish first, I spoke Portuguese because of my parents, then I went to school speaking Portuguese and everyone there thought I was an immigrant although I was born there. Although I learned Spanish very quick.” Born and raised in Argentina, Jonathan and his brother were perceived differently when they would visit their family in Brazil even though they were raised Brazilian

I was born in California, but at the age of five, my family and I moved to Mexico. I remember mom telling me that we were just going to Mexico for vacation, but I can say that was the longest vacation ever, in fact, we spent 10 years “vacationing”. However, when I turned ten, my mom explained to me why we moved; she told me that my dad had been really sick, and he didn’t want to be far away from his family. Since I lived in Mexico for more than ten years, I learned Spanish as my native language. I went to school over there from 1st grade all the way to 10th grade.