SOFIA URRUTIA —
Both my parents are from Panama, they first came to the U.S. in the summer of 1995 for residency training (they are physicians), with the idea that they would return. During that time, my brother and I were born. We then moved back to Panama for for two years, and finally, moved to Maryland in 2005. My family (the four of us) speaks Spanish at home, visits Panama every summer, and participates in local festivals when we are there. Our family in Panama comes to visit us here from time to time. All of my extended family is still there.
(DO YOU SPEAK THE LANGUAGE) Yes, Spanish.
(THE BEST THING) I get exposure to a variety of cultures (US and Panama).
Something that is interesting and perhaps not well known, is that as a hispanic woman of pale skin, many a time, I may not be identified as hispanic, because I don’t fit into that stereotypical physique of a latino person. My mother has encountered this as well, even when applying for her driver’s license. When asked about her race/ethnicity, she answered hispanic. However, because of her pale skin, the woman did not believe her, and therefore did not add that to her driver’s license. Latinos have a variety of racial combinations and even within the same family, people can look quite different and be perceived differently by others. As a first generation American, I don’t fit into any of the two cultures, fully. When I am in the U.S., I am regarded as exotic. When I am in Panama, I am considered American. This can be sort of annoying at times, but can also work in my favor and open more opportunities to me, in both places.
MEHUL SACHDEV —
Both my parents are from India, to be more specific New Delhi, the nation’s capitol, but my mother moved many times (almost every other year), to different places around India because of my grandfather’s work. Because of this my mother has been exposed to many different cultures and languages (because of how diverse India is in that aspect). Everyone in my family in the past has lived in India. The first family in my extended family that immigrated was my father’s aunt and uncle in 1965. My father’s family immigrated in 1988. Unlike my father, my mother had a very large family, and they all immigrated around the same time in about 1993. From there everyone split their ways, but I still have a large amount of my mother’s family still living all around India. My father went to college in Virginia, then moved to Philly, after helping support my grandparents. Philly is where my parents met. My mother came to America in 1999, her uncle came to America in 1988, and most of her extended family followed after my mother to pursue their education in America. She had already attended college in India, and was becoming a doctor in America. She first settled in California, where a lot of my family still is today, then moved to the Bronx with her friend (also attending medical school), before eventually going to Philly. My parents then got married in Virginia around 2000. My mother then had to go to Boston for more doctor stuff (the primary reason for moving around so much for our family), where they had me in 2002. In Massachusetts alone we moved three times, before moving to the opposite side of the climate spectrum, Houston, Texas. That is basically where I remember growing up. After that we moved to Maryland in 2008, but not SP, Annapolis, and my parents had my brother. We stayed there until 2014 (middle school). Up until then I was going to Chesapeake Academy. In terms of keeping in touch with my culture, I have gone to India to visit family almost ten times in my life, the last visit being last summer. I also go to almost like a church Sunday school for Hindus every Sunday. India is not particularly what I call the most fun time, but it is amazing getting to know your own culture and heritage, and honestly makes me proud to be Indian. I speak and am okay at writing Hindi, one of the sixteen official languages of India. It is not very good, sometimes I can get made fun of in India for making simple grammar mistakes, but I can speak enough to communicate clearly. My grandparents on my mother’s side who live in India and my grandmother does not speak english. They stay with our family every once in awhile, and that is always good practice. My experiences as a first generation american are not anything crazy, but it is nice being able to share culture from America to Indians, and I appreciate when Americans inquire about my culture, almost like a cultural exchange. Severna Park is obviously not too diverse of a town, I am probably one of two or three Indians in my grade, but it is nice meeting people curious about the culture. Of course there are always people stereotype, but there is a difference between those who use it as a joke, and those who actually live by them and fully believe in them. This is a huge difference between SP and other places I have lived, however I do not face this problem often.
DANIEL SAENZ –
My parents were born in Mexico and some of my cousins still live there. My dad came over while he was still in high school, and my mom came over to be with him in Dallas when he moved there. I was born in Dallas, and we lived there until I was 10. Since then, we have lived in Maryland.
Although we are very “Americanized”, they still speak to each other mostly in Spanish, so me and my siblings had to learn to understand it. We have visited Mexico a couple of times, often briefly, as we don’t have much family there anymore and. Most of my extended family lives in Texas, either in El Paso or in the Dallas area. Despite being exposed to it for my entire life, I do not speak Spanish well at all and I’m always embarrassed explaining that I do not. The best part of being a first generation American is that I get to see the difference between living in another country as my family did, and living here. This gives me a better picture of the world overall and the opportunities here in the US. Being a first generation American is like being anyone else here in the US, but with the addition of an outside perspective, a couple different foods and candies, and a ton of stories that make me grateful to live in Severna Park.