Personal Narrative: Growing Up In Brazil

Doning the title as a hispanic goes far beyond how one looks and speaks, but rather how one conducts himself through every step of their life. I greatly contribute my hispanic roots in shaping me into the young man I am today. The morals and traditions instilled in me such as my unparalleled work ethic and family values leach from my upcoming in a strong hispanic lifestyle.

I was born in Bogota, Colombia on August 14th, 1998 and left only two years later in search of a better life in the United States of America. The United States is where I was raised, where all my childhood memories take place; the life I know is in this country. Although I have no memory of Colombia, I am still influenced by its culture. Furthermore, I have embraced my Colombian heritage, centering part of my identity on it.

I’m able to resonate with a plethora of things, yet the thing I consider my identity is I’m an adopted, Haitian immigrant.

Many kids do not realize how life is out of the United States. I have experienced a completely new aspect of life outside of an American life into a third world country. Being able to stay there for half of the summer each year as taught me valuable characteristics. The culture experience I had in El Salvador has made me a humble individual, who has become more generous and a thankful person.

There was not much to do as I grew up in Haiti. I would sit outside for hours until the sun would set, the darkness consuming the little light that once remained.  I didn’t know anything besides my house; my mom believed that our safety simply lay inside the house and anything outside was dangerous. Growing up, I didn’t have my father around because he came to the United States in order to provide for his family back home. At the age of seven both my immigration papers and my sister's were finalized, and we were able to finally be with our father. Unfortunately, our mother was not able to come with us. When we got to the airport, I hugged my mother and said goodbye.

This autobiographical essay will define my experience as a Dominican immigrant living in New York City. Being an American citizen with a Dominican background are extremely relevant to the process of political socialization. My family background is founded on the principles of democratic values, which taught to me by my mother and father. In New York City, I found a “melting pot” of different immigrants that allowed me to feel more accepted as a Dominican living in the United States. More so, these aspects of the socialization process provided a foundation for my belief in democratic values throughout my life. My experiences as an immigrant have certainly been difficult in some cases of racism, but I have generally been accepted as an American

Going through every security checks and bag checks, I anxiously waited until it was my turn. There were thousands of people standing at the baggage claim waiting to claim their luggage and others were rushing to the gate to catch their flight. I happened to be one of those people. Sitting in the cold lounge, waiting for my flight to El Salvador to arrive, all I could think about was my mother’s last words before she said goodbye.

It was July 15, 2012 my heart was pounding as fast as a racing car,as I slowly walked the steps of the enormous plane,I slowly thought of how different my life was gonna be, in new place i’ve never been to.I felt exited to meet this place but at same time I felt scared……how different was Latin America gonna be?

As a member of a mainly Cuban family, some of the traditions that my family shared in Cuba where brought to the United States with them. Though I myself was not born in Cuba, there are many traditions that my family has passed on to me, for example the most common would be a quiencienera. This tradition honors the transition of a young lady to a grown women. Another example would be the fact that in Cuba the majority of the population is catholic, thus my family decided to remain practicing the religion even though they reached a country, more so a state with so much cultural diversity, and a variety of different opinion, yet still they remained believing in there old costumes and beliefs. Though things have changed, because of the influence

I identify as a Latina. I have always considered myself as a Latina, but throughout time, I believe that I have assimilated more into a white individual because of the privilege that I hold and because I have lived in the US most of my life. I have received mostly negative messages from those who are not from my ethnicity. My peers and I were told we wouldn’t graduate high school and be laborers for the rest of our lives. With the current politics, I believe that this still holds true where some people still hold stereotypes and give oppressing messages to Latinos. This exposed me to certain microaggressions, such as If I was really born here and if I speak English. I have received a mix of positive and negative messages from those who are of my same

My grandfather asked me “Which one?” I respond “Let’s get this one”. Little did I know that guinea pig was my dinner. Guinea pigs or cuy are not pets but food in Ecuador.When I arrived at the airport it looked like any typical airport, but it felt as if I was in a different world. I remember seeing a whole bunch of random people at the airport. And then this whole group of people is crowding around me and it took me a while to put all the pieces together and I see my brother saying hi to everyone and then I realized holy cow this is my family. On the way to the car I was counting how many people were actually here and I had 6 uncle 's, 6 aunt 's, more than 15 cousins and 4 grandparents. I could not believe my eyes for the first time in eleven years I was with family. The first two weeks living in Ecuador was a challenge.

From as early as I could remember I noticed I was not like the others kids. I had an interest for things most kids would not be interested in. I liked interacting with people, knowing about people and their life stories; I wanted to help in anyway that I could when I would hear everyone’s problems. I thought outside the box throughout my whole childhood and I wanted to make the most out of my knowledge. I told myself that I was going to dedicate my life to helping my community. To me it 's not about expecting something in return or a prize; it 's about the sense of Fulfillment which overtakes you when you realize that such a small gesture can change someone 's day or life.

There were rice plants on my left and farm animals on my right. I grew up in New York City, so you can imagine the millions of questions that were running through my head. I’d never been to the countryside of the Dominican Republic before, but when I finally did, I couldn’t be more ecstatic, despite the scorching Caribbean sun burning down on my brown skin.

19 years ago today in a Hispanic house hold two parents three siblings and the world to conquer. Screaming, laughing, learning and growing molded this one young lady to overcome all statics .Factors such as birthplace, extracurricular activities and the simple thing she couldn’t control, her origin were deciding factors for where she is present day.

Starting his journey to greatness early, young Felipe Martinez began playing teeball the age of 7. “I did it on my own, I wanted to try something new so I tried teeball,” Martinez explained while sitting at a small desk in the corner of the classroom in his dapper bow tie and button up shirt, ready for his football game later that night. Martinez has been playing sports ever since he was seven. Currently he is part of the Marshall Redhawks football team, where he plays: corner, linebacker, and receiver. Also Felipe plays on a baseball team, and he wrestles too. “I just like being physically active I guess,” Martinez inquired.