Personal Narrative: Mariela De Loa

The color of my skin, texture of my curls, and sound of my accent does not solely define who I am. I define myself as Mariela De Loa, a Catholic, Mexican-American young woman. My adolescence consisted of me growing up in a middle class household with my mother, father, and three siblings. From a young age my parents embeded religious morals into my norms and values. I was taught to put God above all and treat those around me with respect. My parents also enforced the Spanish language while I was growing up. By the time I entered kindergarten, Spanish was my dominant language, so I couldn’t speak English as well. It was difficult for me to get along with other kids because none of them looked like me or spoke the same language as me. Essentially,
Many Latinos living in the US are undocumented, or also referred to as illegal. Growing up as a minority has definitely had an impact on my perspective about society and my everyday experiences. Many ignorant individuals assume that an individual is undocumented if they are Latino, speak Spanish, and have low wage jobs, but this is false. Some people look down upon Latinos because they see them as inferior individuals, but race does not define an individual’s abilities to be successful
I have been told that I can’t do certain things and have been called names that attack where I come from, although these negative comments have certainly slowed me down, they haven’t stopped me. Society throws many messages at young Latinas such as myself, telling us that we can only have certain careers or that we cannot have high positions in society. I’m truly blessed to be able to attend a school where teachers, classmates, and friends motivate me to do whatever I want to do with my life. I owe it all to my parents for taking me out of a dangerous city where I would have been surrounded by drugs and violence, and could be attending, Richmond High. Without the education I have been receiving all my life, I most likely would not believe that I have the ability to pursue any career: I am the driver of my own future. I choose if I want to make the wrong turns, but a I can also follow the right path. Although at times I may fall off onto the side of the road, there will always be individuals there to help push me back onto the road