I was raised in a Mexican home and went to school in the United States, so I was a part of two different worlds. My family spoke Spanish, observed traditional practices, and celebrated Mexican festivals at home, allowing me to be fully immersed in our beautiful cultural background. There was a strong sense of identity and belonging in this familiar and cozy setting. But going to school opened my eyes to a very different world, where people spoke English as their first language and the customs were frequently different from mine.
Despite being born in the United States, learning English proved to be quite difficult. It seemed frustrating and isolating to be grouped with other English language learners. I would think, “I hated being separated from the rest of the class,” as my experience of separation and annoyance grew. I felt detached from the school system because of the language barrier and the clear mismatch between my cultural background and its expectations.
I made a concerted effort to close this gap by working hard to get better at English, asking teachers for guidance, and making an effort to share my cultural background with classmates. I learned resilience and adaptation by juggling these two worlds over time, which enhanced my academic experience and enabled me to reconcile my two identities into a single, whole person. In the end, this event influenced how I view cultural variety and personal development.
Hey Stacy, I can totally relate! I’m Mexican too, and growing up in a Mexican household while going to school in the U.S. felt like living in two worlds. At home, we spoke Spanish and followed our traditions, which made me feel really connected to my culture. But at school, it was all English, and the customs were so different. Even though I was born here, learning English was tough for me too. I remember being frustrated in ESL classes and feeling like being separated from the rest of the class only made things harder. I had to work hard to improve my English and find ways to navigate both cultures. Over time, I’ve learned to embrace both sides of who I am. Your story really hit home. Thanks for sharing!
OK this is a good start! You might want to expand this.
NOW — CSD concrete specific details are needed. When did this happen? What grade and age were you when you remember being “separated” from the other students and perhaps feeling different? Was this a English as a second language classroom? Who were the other students around you in that classroom? Who was the teacher? Do you have a single memory of an event in this classroom or a lesson in the classroom made you feel different from the other students at the school? Could you dig into your memory and recreate an event that stands out as a transformative experience of being in a second language classroom and feeling like you were in TWO different worlds of language or TWO different worlds of outcast vs “normal” students at this school? RLW and re examine the story of When I Was PR: How does Santiago SHOW us that she felt separated from the normal students? What details does she use? Remember her CSD about Ms. Brown’s classroom. These are ideas to think about if you were to use this HW as a seed for a bigger story.
We are going to be working on SHOWING with CSD instead of just telling.