Farzana Khan
February 15, 2016
Eng 1121-0465
Summary: “It’s Hard Enough Being Me”
“It’s Hard Enough Being Me” by Anna Lisa Raya is a short story about a young girl who is going through an identity crisis after moving to America. She spent her childhood years growing up in California and moved to New York to attend college. In New York, she discovers there is another name that people use to define someone like her, which is a Latina. The author portrays herself as being stuck between two worlds, being a Latina and “sellout” which is a word she uses in the short story. Anna has pale skin and green eyes which made her feel like she wasn’t a Latina. Her mother never taught her how to speak Spanish and she felt she didn’t deserve the title of being a Latina. This made her feel as if she doesn’t belong anywhere.
Anna never imagined her life in college being as complicated as it was. She didn’t know who she was as a person and she didn’t know where she was going in life, but she knew she had a reason to find herself. In New York, Anna finds people who call themselves “Nuyorican” which are Puerto Ricans who are born and raised in New York. She discovers they are writers who use the impact of living New York City to motivate their writing and they also share the same background and past conflicts as her. They gave her valuable advice and fortunately she takes it. This was a turning point in Anna’s life and she finally learns that she needs to accept herself for who she is and move on.
