Personal Narrative: My Experience As A Chicana Latina

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 the first and only child in my family to attend college, I represent “Diversity”. My Hispanic heritage and culture has shaped my life by instilling the strong values and principles that Hispanic families and community’s share. Furthermore, my cultural roots have greatly influenced my current journey and have helped me learn and develop as a leader. The professional, academic, and career opportunities I am learning now is what sets me apart from everyone else, and I believe my strong leadership potential and commitment to my fellow peers are essential to becoming an innovative leader.

Welcome. A single word on the carpet by the door greets me whenever I come home. There had been times where that one word made my heart beat and cry with joy. But not now, for many things changed through the years. Now when I look at this carpet, I instead question back: ‘Do you really mean that?’

Being a daughter of immigrant parents has never been easy here in America. Both my parents worked excessively hard to be financially stable. Unfortunately at the age of ten my life changed. I learned that my parents no longer loved each other. The arguing and fighting my parents had, only damaged me emotionally. I was too young to grasp the idea that my parents were separating which become one of the hardest times for my mom to maintain my siblings and I. Shortly after, I began attending church and fell in love with the idea of getting closer to God. Luckily, my life took an enormous turn the moment I gave my life to Christ. God has opened numerous opportunities for my education. I am proud of all the accomplishments I have achieved in high

My parents come from a small town in Michoacán, Mexico. Growing up, my first language was Spanish. There were situations where I would be embarrassed of my parents for not knowing how to speak English. People would give mean looks and give off a rude tone because of the fact they couldn't speak English. I was a shy person, so I didn't know how to defend my parents but those experiences shaped me into the person who is not embarrassed about having Mexican parents and helps them around with their English. I am a proud and lucky to be the daughter of Mexican parents. Aside from that, I had been an only child till I was eight years old. The day my sister was born, I knew she will be my best friend forever. She is now ten years old and looks up

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.

Leaving home at the age of 18, loving on my own, figuring how to become an adult, and moving out to college, there were many things being thrown at me in which I was not fully prepared for them. Moving out at 18 is normal for any high school graduate in The United States. Being a Mexican American women it was more than just the net step to life , but a huge accomplishment. Being ascribed into a poor family increased the desire to move forward. My parents did not want me to follow their footsteps into the world of low waged labor, they wanted more. Growing up all I heard from teachers and family members was to go to college. For many it’s the normal thing for a high school graduate to do. For me it was more than socialization it was the path

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’

“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?

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

I am fluent in both Spanish and English, I am also well aware of the Latino-American experience in the United States. I have been raised in the Los Angeles area since the age of seven and thus, I am particularly sensitive to my Latino/Latina (Hispanic) patients, and their unique medical needs. In the most practical terms, I will be able to reach out to my Latino/a patients in their native language, and thereby increasing the accuracy of treatment, reducing error and increasing my patients sense of importance and relevance in their healing process. Chiropractic medicine would provide me with the balance between the holistic approach to the patient care, a complete understanding of the physiology and biomechanics of the body, and a constant observation

Growing up as a Latino in a community where most of the population are Hispanic had made me blind, detached from the reality of the world and the reality of the college experience, especially in Santa Cruz. Looking at the world I have always known to an extent who had more privilege than others, special attention, and more rights. I have also vaguely known which groups have been treated with less respect seen as less, but all of this didn’t really seem to matter to me in my immediate world. Coming to Santa Cruz on trips such as ORALE and JUSTICE has made me see, made me realize that it does affect me, my family, and my community that privilege is something that isn’t gifted to us but which we fight for, which causes us to be looked at differently

Being a latino in the U.S had been and still is the reason for suffering discrimination against one's aspirations and goals in life. Not only that but as an ESL life was far from being the American Dream most people come to this country looking for. The truth is that for those that had not escape from the category of ESL, prejudice will be a stigma that would follow them through high school and life. From these tumultuous waters I rose. Expectations were low and many assume that I was either stupid or incapable to compete with my classmates. My attitude and determination were the floating devices for my sicking life.

Provided how squeamish I can be, I did not want to become a medical health professional despite my ancestral lineage’s commonality of such professions. This trend led my family to expect me to mirror my grandfather’s career and become a medical physician. My family viewed health care workers as the optimal profession for humanitarian purposes. However, my grandfather believed that an engineer creates solutions to human problems and thus can have a larger human impact than a health professional. I decided to major in chemical engineering as an undergraduate with his words in mind.

Growing up, I barely heard the early 2000’s hits blasting from the car radio; instead, Marc Anthony would always serenade us. Growing up, Christmas day didn’t begin Christmas morning; instead Christmas day began Christmas Eve night. Growing up, I didn’t dismiss my heritage; instead, I embraced it. My Latino background defines who I am. Surging throughout my body, my Puerto Rican and Salvadoran heritage has shaped me into the person I am today.