Like many today, I am a child born of immigrants who
migrated to North America. Both of my parents were born in Peru and came to
live in a better environment. Some years ago, my mother, at 25, came to the
U.S. after graduating with a bachelor’s and master’s degree in teaching. They
came to the “land of opportunity” in the hopes that they would find better job
opportunities; initially, did not succeed in her goal.
My mother wanted to become a teacher in North
America, yet when she came to the U.S., not all her credits were transferred
and so she had to finish her credits in the here in order to fulfill her goal.
Unfortunately, because my mother did not know anyone except for her married
brother, she could not study until she earned money for her own education. As she
did not know English, she started her work as a janitor and a cleaning lady. My
mother had to start from zero. My father also had to start with carrying boxes
and working hard for his own benefit. He was a Peruvian marine who also wanted
to stop traveling and try to make a family in the U.S. He, like my mother, did
not have his parents to take care of him. He only had a few cousins who were
almost in the same position as he was. They, my mother and father, both began
from scratch and steadily worked to become the parents they are today.
As a result of my parents’ hard work, my little
brothers and I were born in the U.S. We had the blessing of having such parents
that work hard to give us an education and become something more than what they
were. We were taught in Catholic schools since we were four and have been able
to recognize how important it is to be united as a family and be thankful to
God.
Genesis Balarezo, G.O. Team: Dominican Republic
My country is very diverse, just like the United States (and the rest of the Americas). We all have different backgrounds, from Chinese to African blood. Yet the major language that we speak is Spanish. Peru is like a mini America. And I have noticed that, as Professor Wifall and Dwayne stated in our meeting, sometimes we can see the veil between us as a people and society. I am an American (U.S.) but I am seen as a Hispanic in the U.S. And yet when I go to Peru, people recognized that there is something different about me, they know that I am not Peruvian. This concept of a an invisible glass that separates us from one another whether for color, race or gender is all mentally constructed. Physically on the inside we all have a heart, we all have blood and muscles. As our future doctor, Esther, stated before, doctors don’t look at your skin, they are more concerned about your blood, your DNA structure. So why is there social difference? Is it because we are never content with what we have? Or is it because we are unhappy with ourselves and want others to seem less or appear less superior than us for our own happiness?
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