Throughout my life my family has alway been able to speak in spanish. I have friends who speak Spanish fluently. I for one have never been able to speak spanish, i’ve tried but i just couldn’t pronounce some of the words correctly. I have always felt ashamed that I couldn’t speak my peoples language. This feeling had made me think I was the odd ball out for a while. I belong to the worlds of both the Hispanics and Americans. I say these 2 worlds because while I am a latino i don’t speak spanish and I live in America where everything, race, culture and religion, is americanized.
The way I got over these feelings of shame and not belonging were hard. I had started to learn Spanish again and I had tried to get myself to stop feeling ashamed about not knowing it. I have slowly learned how to understand and speak some words but to this day I am not fluent in Spanish. I have learned that it isn’t bad to not know how to speak Spanish because I am currently learning how to. The conflict that took a while longer was getting myself not to think those thoughts anymore. My mom and cousins all told me it’s alright not to speak it and that it doesn’t change who you are. This is how I overcame/ learned to deal with my 2 worlds.
I like the fact that you said “race, culture and religion, is americanized.” I agree with you 100%.
Dylan: You have the seeds of a good essay here, but you’ve done more of a SUMMARY. Now we need a NARRATIVE, a story with events. As you move on to writing Essay 1, you need to attach these ideas to an actual story–a story with conflict and a true beginning, middle, and end. What one or two transformational events have been important in your educational journey? Your goal is to show how a particular aspect of your educational experience shaped you to become who you are today. Choose a single transformative event or memory or a set of transformative events or memories that influenced you.
GOING FORWARD WITH THIS FREE-WRITE:
Clarify: What is your family heritage? You say Spanish but you don’t say what country — it’s important in an essay where you are describing the world your family hails from. THen what are the TWO worlds? The (what language what country) vs the American world.
You could start with a mentor quote and focus on the two different worlds and what you have discovered about your identity. A new way to start this essay is to pull out the mentor quote:
“It’s alright not to speak it and that it doesn’t change who you are.”
When my mom and my cousin told me this, I felt ____ and began to overcome my feelings of shame and not belonging to ____ world.
THEN — YOU NEED ONE OR TWO EVENTS, MEMORIES THAT HELPED YOU COME TO THIS REALIZATION AND PEACE WITH WHO YOU ARE.
Can you describe one of the “oddball” moments of not speaking fluent Spanish “I couLdn’t pronounce some of the words correctly…couldn’t speak my people’s language.” Show me with a scene of this oddball moment to show how you felt uncomfortable in that world.
Clarify ( make clearer): I live in America where everything, race, culture and religion, is americanized [what does this last part about America mean? AND How is it that you feel you don’t belong in the Americanized world?].
Good weay to come to a close — Can you describe what have you learned about your identity “It’s alright not to speak it and that it doesn’t change who you are.” This is a kind and embracing statement from your family. Can you show your feelings on overcoming and new realiziation about your identity and language and how language (being able to speak or not speak the language) shapes your identity?