What is a legacy? Lin Manuel Miranda as Alexander Hamilton described it as “planting seeds in a garden you never get to see”. In a similar way, the Broadway musical, In The Heights, sings about continuing what is passed down to you because one day it may be gone. One song in particular titled, “Paciencia y Fe” inspires me to work as hard as I can just like Abuela Claudia did when she immigrated from Cuba. The Broadway hits’ harmonies and melodies have instilled in me a sense of hope for the future, where I can continue a family legacy.…
It started just as any normal Saturday would; December 8, 2012, I woke up, went through my morning routine and went to soccer practice. I was competing for a spot on the North Carolina ODP (Olympic Development Program) soccer team. Training was being held at fields about two hours from my house. I sat in the backseat of my dad’s car with my two sisters and as we rode to the fields I began to mentally prepare myself for how I would play my best and make the team.…
I came to the United States from Colombia when I was just 3 years old. I was brought into the country of bright opportunities because like every other parent, my mother and father wanted what was best for me. My mother had to give up her dream job in Colombia, which was being an accountant for an essentially important company, in order to facilitate my well-being and open up the doors for my future. As the years progressed, I began to acquire both languages, English and Spanish, but there was a point where I became tongue tied and had to assist in speech therapy. My parents would talk to me in Spanish at home but in school all I would hear was English, my mind was extremely confused to the point that I made my own language by using both tongues in one sentence.…
let me introduce to my family the Garcia Family. what we like to do is go camping every summer and go to Madeline Island that's where we camp. we like to play board games together like monopoly so here we go I will introduce you to the Garcia Family.…
The Dominican Republic, known for its beautiful beaches and balmy weather, was the last place I ever imagined I would find myself in this past summer vacation. On this week long trip, it wasn't for the warm ocean waves or the traditional Dominican cuisine I was called to, I was called to serve the beautiful Dominican people. On the third day of the trip, instead of heading out to the worksite where we had been pouring the concrete footers of a plastics and water filter factory, I opted to travel with a group to the childrens' cancer ward in Santiago and visit the patients. We started out our visit by performing a few dances we had taught our vacation bible school and handing out fun little gift we had brought with us. We played ball with some…
It was Monday, May 30th, 2011. My family was driving home from a hotel we were staying at in Virginia, after going to Kings Dominion for my birthday day the day before. On the way home, we stopped at a Cracker Barrel for breakfast. During our meal, we got a call from my aunt telling us that my uncle, my mother’s brother, was in the hospital. Only a few days before he had moved back to Guatemala without saying goodbye to me. Once we were back on the road, my mother continued to get phone calls updating us about what was happening down there, as each call came through we all became more and more anxious wait for the answer. Then it came it just wasn't the answer we were hoping for, my mother began pushing on the walls of the car as if they were…
But there is one thing, that, my family don't know about me. It's that i became a man in front of them and they don't think about it!.…
I would like to say I know Spanish, after four years of studying in high school and multiple trips to South and Central America, yet it seems every time I leave the States, I find myself in a frantic struggle to process the words I know and figure out the meanings of the ones I do not. Sometimes this simply means missing out on a few insignificant details, other times it can seriously complicate life.…
At around 10 years of age my family and I were coming out of a store when we heard an individual yell out, “Go back to Mexico, America houses no aliens!” At that moment, I felt as if this wouldn’t be the last time I would hear these words echo through my life, and I was right.…
The place I grew up in could be considered above average. I had my friends that I would see every day and my family back at home. However, everything that any of us did would be over the top in every way possible. This became especially evident when my family and I would begin to plan a party or travel, this improvement of activities would be known as the “Mexican Way”. To be more specific, my family and I turned a normal New Year’s Eve party into a colorful and explosive fiesta. At first it seemed normal, we bought all the fireworks, started getting all the food ready for the party, and all my cousins and uncles started to arrive at my house; but as soon as it got dark everything started to get out of hand. As the first bottle rockets went…
Coming from a low income Hispanic family, I’ve had to overcome different challenges. One thing I recall from my childhood, was enjoying myself from reality. Reality in which no child knows about life and death, bad news and good news, or right from wrong. I still remember when I was upset for quite some time for not celebrating my first birthday party at the age of 4. Instead, at 4 years old, I had to spent my birthday and week at a funeral praying up to two weeks. But then I was finally triggered at the age of 9 when I found out that the man I saw in his casket years ago was no stranger, it was my father. I grew up thinking my father had abandoned my mother and siblings, but never did I consider such thing. As time went by I did not think…
“Take time to be thankful for everything that you have. You can always have more, but you could also have less.” -Anonymous. My family and I have gone to Haiti for the past three years. Haiti is a third world country in the Caribbean about 1836 miles from Chicago. We go there to help others and to receive the gift of giving instead of presents for Christmas.…
Growing up in a community that is mostly Hispanic creates a type of shield, not allowing for different cultures or ethnicity to diversify the community. A Hispanic family living in such an isolated community takes a toll on the way we view the world. This environment has indulged my curiosity. Being the second youngest sibling of my family of seven has allowed me to learn from my older brothers, and have the privilege to be a leader to my little brother and serve as a role model to him. Though none of my family members went to college, and my parent’s highest education being a high school diploma, it hasn’t discouraged me to follow their footsteps, but rather give the encouragement to dedicate myself to be the first generation and in my whole…
Growing up I excelled in every educational aspect of school. However the stereotype for someone of my skin color did not allow for me to be both Mexican and smart. My Hispanic peers began to exclude me; the most common way they did that was by taking away my identity as a Mexican. I heard “Diego you white” an uncountable number of times throughout my schooling. I noticed that my grades and vocabulary would trigger that comment so I began to change the way I acted in order to fit in. It was not until recently that I realized the fault in changing and found a peaceful merge between the two speech communities.…
Last Summer, I visited Costa Rica on a kayaking trip with Falling Creek, a summer camp in Tuxedo, NC. Every year, 20 or so kids get invited to the program called HUCK, where you go kayaking in places around the world. Last summer, all of the kids that were invited went to Costa Rica where we would have a great time experiencing new culture and great whitewater. The First few days were great and those were some of the most powerful, best rivers I have ever kayaked.…