Personal Narrative: My Latino Heritage

As a young child living in a small, conservative town in south central Minnesota, I realized that I was not like the rest of my peers. I began to notice cultural differences, language barriers, and worst of all, discrimination. Some Latinos experience this and turn away from our culture. But even through all the negative experiences, I have embraced my heritage and held my head up high because I am proud of being the daughter of Mexican immigrants.
My mother is the second oldest in a family comprised of three girls and seven boys. Her upbringing was harsh. Her mother was a victim of domestic abuse; with each one of my grandmother’s pregnancies resulting from spousal rape. Resources were limited; having to split a couple pieces of meat to feed …show more content…
My parents did not risk their lives so that I would refuse to learn Spanish, and turn away from my culture. My parents crossed the border so that I could have a better education than they did, so that I could have a roof over my head, so that I was never starving, and so that my life was never at risk. I will not let their sacrifices be in vain.
My first experience in a public school setting was kindergarten at Nicollet. I remember my classmates coming up to me and asking me things about myself, and all I could do was smile and nod. I learned English pretty fast and after a little guidance from teachers, I found myself in fifth grade with a college reading level and going to the regional spelling bee. I have made it my goal to finish high school and college and prove to my family that I can be the first female in our family to graduate from both high school and college.
I take cultural discrimination very seriously. I go to a school where there is an outrageous amount of racially insensitive individuals, and they have made it clear that they are not fans of me. But that only motivates me to keep fighting for my beliefs and to not let negative experiences hinder the unrelenting force that is my

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