Vanessa A.
I look up to my parents because they have had a big role in making me the person I am today. They are strong people who have done everything they can to give me a better future and I know it hasn't always been easy for them. I have a lot of family and they have always been a huge part of my life because those are the people who I have shared all my good and bad moments with. I grew up in a hispanic household, so growing up here in Boulder definitely had some challenges for me, and all of my family. I learned english at a young age but it was still hard to feel like I fit in because to a lot of people I was different because my first language in Spanish and because of how I looked.
Being Latina and growing up and living in a place like Boulder can sometimes feel intimidating because it's not very often that I see the Latin Community being represented. Sometimes I still feel like I'm being left out, and when I get any opportunity to be a part in any way of my Latin community I take it because it's something that I really care about. Recently these past few years I have noticed that there has been more representation of the Latin community than when I was a kid growing up. I have participated in some programs that helps show our community but I really wish I knew more about my community when I was a kid, although I am happy that now this is being shown more.
Growing up I was able to experience two different cultures, one was in my house and in my family and the other one I got the experience outside of my house like at school. Finally being able to visit the place where my parents came from was exciting, it was such an amazing experience to really see the other part of who I am. I have realized that living here has brought me many opportunities and I thank my parents for that. I would say that I am a very family-oriented person because I think it's really important to spend time with family, so I know that for my parents to come to Boulder from a place where they spend most of their childhood, was hard and it's even harder when there's no one else that understands you or is in the same situation as you and for that reason I am extremely grateful for my parents.