BOOK 1, Post 1

For Book 1, I have chosen to read American Like Me by America Ferrera. I knew America Ferrera from her rendition of Betty Suarez in Ugly Betty, an amazing TV show that I grew up watching with my mom. I chose this memoir because I hoped that there was something that she and the other writers could tell me about this life, the life of being of a different descent in the US, and more importantly, how they were able to reconcile the differences and challenges that come from that. 

Right from the gecko, America hit me with one of the most relatable situations, the awkward conversation of our name. Every start of the school year, there was an awkward pause before my name was read out loud. The stumbling of its phonemes and confused faces. My stomach sank and the heavy heartbeats persisted as I raised my hand to explain my name's pronunciation. To an outsider, these feelings might seem exaggerated, but as a kid, the last thing you want is to stand out, much less feel embarrassed in front of your classmates. It took time for me to appreciate my name and as I grew older, it served as a reminder of my beautiful Mexican heritage, a reminder of the sacrifices that my parents made for me to be able to have a shot at the American Dream. 

The story that has spoken to me the most thus far is that of Reshma Saujani. While I did not grow up in a predominantly white neighborhood, I did grow up in a predominantly white boarding school. I think every POC that has grown up in a PWI understands this feeling of feeling like an outsider, but at the same time not. You know they're your friends and you know you guys are equal to each other, but you never fully feel a part of the friend group/ classmates. Unfortunately most of the time we blame ourselves, we blame our appearances or our cultural backgrounds, but now that I’m older, I too have realized, like Reshma, that its not the way we look or our cultural background that is fundamentally what we want to change, it's just that we want to feel “normal” (Saujiani 4) and since that normal is looking or being a certain way, we feel like we have to change ourselves to be that. I am very fortunate to have met mentors and teachers from a latino-american background that helped me understand that adopting an “american mindset” doesn't mean that you automatically give up your heritage, it just means you have a “flavored” version of them both. You learn to balance them both. It means you learn to change, to adapt, to be able to perfectly transition from an American (whatever that means), to your cultural self. It's important to note that one does not invalidate the other or that one is better than the other, they are both equally as precious and as important as the other. They are both just different sides of the same coin. 

I am hoping to hear more stories like these, stories that get how it feels to be in between worlds, morphing oneself to fit the situation. I am also excited to read those stories that are different to mine on the surface, but hold the same fundamental values at heart. I am really liking this book thus far and I’m excited to keep reading.