Personal Narrative: Dominican

Coming from a Mexican immigrant family I have learned to recognize since a very young age that because of the status that my parents are placed in they cannot pursue a better future like the one I want. I have been given the opportunity to challenge myself with obtaining a higher education than just high school itself. My parents have demonstrated to me through their hard work that I have to value this opportunity unless I want to end up with low paying job. My life long dedication comes from seeing my parents make sacrifices in order for my education to continue.

As an undergraduate student, the topics that emerged from writing research and essay papers were topics that I or others could relate to. The opportunity to participate in research came to me, I could not resist but to pursue being a part of it. I was in the developmental lab organized by Dr. Knifsend for the past two years of my undergraduate career.

What do you think of when someone says “Dominican Republic”? Do you think of spas, hotels and beaches? When I think of it I recall dirt roads, poverty and dilapidated shacks. My senior year of high school I went on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic with my basketball team with the simple goal in mind to advance our skills as basketball players and to help the people of the Dominican. Little did I know this trip would change my life completely.

As an American born and raised, I have surprisingly, never given much thought on how my race impacts my life and the people around me. It seems as if society today is obsessed with knowing what we are racially and where we come from, rather than our character and how we think or how we carry ourselves culturally.

My parents always wanted to give their children the life they never had. I am Mexican-American, both of my parents immigrated from Mexico to the U.S. before I was born. I have numerous relatives, including my older sister, who do not have the same opportunities I have to achieve success because they are undocumented. For them, college was only a dream that could never be attained. Being the first U.S. citizen out of my entire family affected the way I thought about life. It was expected that I would attend college because I was the only one who had access to all the resources granted to American citizens. Although, I agreed with my family, the pressure to succeed and be a role model to my younger siblings was overwhelming.

Much to my own embarrassment, my Hispanic heritage had been a thing I hardly thought of. My Father left my family when I was young, and with him went the hopeful wisps I had of learning about myself. It’s not to say that I wasn’t aware that I was Hispanic, but rather, growing up in a mainly white household I didn’t think I had any right to claim my ethnicity. However, the more I look around me and learn about the community Hispanics have grown accustomed to, the more I find that I understand where I came from. To me, being Hispanic isn’t about what you were told when you were younger, or the traditions you grew up with. Rather, being Hispanic is about learning where you come from, and learning about those who share your same heritage. ‘Hispanic’

My Hispanic culture is exceedingly unique contrast to other cultures because we have countless of beliefs, holidays, lifestyles, etc. My world of Hispanic culture raised me to become an independent and determined person because being the first generation of a Hispanic family to attend college has my family beyond thrilled for me to put value to our heritage. Putting value in our heritage is a magnificent emotion because people anticipate Hispanics to fail; but, we prove them wrong when we accomplish our goals. The Hispanic culture’s strength is unbelievably astonishing because we are ambitious of our dreams and we don’t cease until we fulfill our wish. Including the Hispanic culture at University of Washington may open people’s mind that we

“Wow...there is no way you’re Latino. You’re way too white!” was the ignorant remark made by a one of my peers during my school’s annual Latin-American Fest. Initially, hearing this claim made me look into the mirror. I began to stroke my face and examine my physical features. Was this true? Was I not Latino enough? Did the amount of melanin or lack thereof deem me as Latino?

I am Mexican-American. It took me years to finally be able to say that with a sincere feeling of pride. Both of my parents were born in Mexico and moved here before they had a chance to attend college, so my entire life I’ve been exposed to both Mexican culture and American culture. Instead of seeing my multi-cultured world as unique and special, I saw it as a sort of disadvantage, but as time went on and I became more educated on the successes of Mexican-Americans, I had a newfound understanding and appreciation of the culture which consequentially influenced my future aspirations.

Dr. Jonathan Xavier Inda is chair of Latina/Latino Studies (LLS) at the University of Urbana Champaign, and is a professor of selected LLS classes. He got his PhD in Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley where he specialized in Central America, specifically Mexican, Immigration. He has written and contributed to over twenty publications, which include books, academic journals, and encyclopedia entries. I interviewed him because from his class, Politics of Undocumented Immigration, I was inspired to explore Global Studies and/or Anthropology as a major.

Initially, I was an Ecuadorian girl that had a Christian family, I grew up surrounded by my family and loved ones. My cognitive development was in progress, and I had created fundamental bonds in Ecuador. Provided that my dad is an American citizen and due to his work in America, he could not spend too much time with us in Ecuador, so, my mom, my little brother, and I immigrated to America. After three years of my life, our family reunited, and I became an Ecuadorian-American. Since I was very young, assimilating the changes came to be unnoticed, if it weren’t for the fact that during the next years I spoke Spanish at home and English at school. As a result, my translations of these languages affected my communication, creating slow comprehensive

Recognize Nieves? No? Okay, how about Zacatecas? Still not ringing a bell? Okay, okay, Mexico? Yeah, I knew you’d know that one. Nieves, Zacatecas is within the Mexico borders. A humble place where I was born. Several circumstances started evolving where I was raised. And just like any other parents, mine got concerned which later resulted of us relocating to a safer environment. A place where death would visit frequently wasn’t a good place for a 1 year old kid. A town where the word trust was unknown. Leading to my parents decision of following the american dream.

Would you say that life has any sense? Or Is there an answer for everything in life? Three years ago I was completely messed up about this. Gustavo Adolfo Parra Chassaigne that’s how my parents called me and I was born in Maracay a little city next to Venezuela’s capital, Caracas. I used to be the first student of all my high school, also one of the first in tennis of my state and everybody said that my family was “perfect”. So, What did happen to me?

Having been raised in a single parent household from a young age, I developed a strong work ethic. Watching my mother struggle at times raising my brother and me has helped me to see how essential it is to have a college education to achieve my ultimate goal in life, which is to become a psychiatrist and assist those in struggles similar to the ones I’ve faced.

Albert Einstein wrote, “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”