Alyssa Ortiz / United States
I am a sixteen year old girl attending Santa Susana High School and I am proud to call myself a Latina. But I won’t lie it took me awhile to understand what being Hispanic meant and understand the fact that I was actually proud to call myself one. Growing up I attended an elementary with mostly white students, and I found myself in situations where I would hide my nationality for the sake of not being different for the sake of fitting in. At times students and teachers would blindly discriminate me and ask me to translate or say something in Spanish, and I would constantly find myself in a battle with my own identity, do I risk being different or do I pretend like I don’t know my own language. Too many times I found myself down the wrong path always neglecting a big part of myself. Until I attended my middle school where it was more integrated and I could actually relate to people with the same Hispanic backgrounds. There I learned it was okay to be different yet I was still a bit timid at times. It was not till I attended High School that I finally understood what being Hispanic means. It means allowing yourself to immerse yourself in the culture, and being aware of your background, loving and respecting every ounce of it. I was able to fully understand this in high school because I was finally confident enough to show my true identity, all in all becoming my true self, a sixteen year old proud to call herself a Latina.