“As a Cuban American my whole life has been centered on race. Where I was born seems to affect my life more than where it is that I grew up. As a child it is hard growing up with parents that do not speak English and you sometimes have to be the adult and make sure they are not taken advantage of. I struggled with this more as I child than I do now. My mom was never able to help me with my homework after I learned some English and I was always seen as weaker in school than other children because of the language barrier. I think that I was so tired of people looking down to me as a child that I turned the negativity into power. I learned English in about a year and soon became an honor student. Now, thirteen years later I am 20 years old and look back at my childhood as my own personal growth. I thank my parents every day for giving me everything I have. They have been the only ones that have truly showed me love throughout my life. Now that I look back on it, I lean on my parents for everything and they have leaned on me for many things also. I have seen women who have gone through similar experiences take out things on their parents. I would like to ask those women to look in the past and remember why their parents immigrated in the first place. I took the negative people as a motivator to continue my journey in life. I owe my life to my parents because they were the one that changes their whole life to make my life worth living. As an immigrant life is never easy but you have to make sure that the people you love are close to you and those who bring you down are far away.”
- M. Salvador
1 comment:
Striving to acheive your goals through adversity, it is a beautiful thing.
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