The reflections unit required an introspective approach. All our work was centered around the question of “who am I?” The hardest part of the unit for me was narrowing down my values. In English we were given a long list of commonly sited values. From fifty, we were to narrow it down to our most valued ten and then three. I’ve decided that as of senior year, the three values of most significance to me include communication, knowledge, and creativity. Of course, I expect that if you ask me next year they will not be the same.<\/p>\n
So with these three values selected, we set off to write a personal essay giving insight into who we were and why our values shaped us to become the person we are. After that was written we made a recording in Digital Media which you can find below along with the accompanying text.<\/p>\n
I listen to my suitcase clacking against the tiled floor that was once vibrant with the colors of the Venezuelan flag. I\u2019m saddened at how quickly it has faded since my last visit but find solace in the embrace of my mother\u2019s hand. Her mention of how she wishes my brother had been able to make it makes me want to retract from her grasp. <\/span>Why would she want him to come?<\/span><\/i> I wonder. <\/span>He\u2019s so ungrateful.<\/span><\/i> How could she miss someone who so obviously doesn’t miss us?<\/span><\/i> The age gap between my brother and I has always made our relationship complicated, but when he shipped out to NYU, he never called or texted, and I resented him for it.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t like him,\u201d I say plainly to my mom. She drops my hand and whacks me, scolding me for saying such an awful thing. I know she\u2019s right. I have to find a way to let go my anger. After all, every relationship is a two-way street. I decide I have to do my part. If he wasn\u2019t going to answer my calls, I\u2019d have to borrow the phone from my parents when he called them. If he wasn\u2019t going to text me, I\u2019d have to start sending him anything that would be easy to respond to \u2013 even some silly video would do. <\/span><\/p>\n I return my gaze to the faded floor that had once been a cheerful sign of reaching what I call home. Even though I wasn\u2019t born in Venezuela, my mother filled our home with the culture. <\/span>Am I Venezuelan? <\/span><\/i>I ask myself. Does birthplace have jurisdiction over my identity? There have been many times where I\u2019ve felt that being both American and Venezuelan has made me neither. It\u2019s why I shied away from joining the Latino Student Union; the color of my skin didn\u2019t match that of the other Hispanic kids at my school. Still, I make an effort to hold onto my heritage. I wear my necklace from Venezuela every day, help my mom make arepas weekly, and speak Spanish whenever I can.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0My mother has been the one to help me connect my birthplace and heritage in order to build a stronger identity. It took me quite some time to accept her guidance and advice, but recognizing my obstinate manners has only made me stronger. I\u2019ve found I can also learn from other sources of knowledge, such as books. For example, I am a proud feminist, and I\u2019ve spent a lot of time studying to better understand what that means and how to wear the label with confidence. When my principal was cited in our school newspapers saying she did not know what feminism was, I felt the need to take action. I wrote her a letter explaining that while her personal beliefs do not have to align with mine, she should know what the term means because it\u2019s quite an important concept for so many of her students. The parcel I gave her also included the book I had recently read: <\/span>We Should All Be Feminists<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n It is my belief that words are the foundation of relationships, regardless of whether that relationship is with someone you love, yourself, or someone you barely know. Perfect connections aren\u2019t guaranteed, for instance, there is still a gap between my brother and I, but I believe that as we continue to grow we will work together to find common ground. It is my hope that by studying human rights I will be able to build bridges between identities in the international setting. Diplomacy can take many forms, in conversation, tying cultures together, or standing up for one\u2019s beliefs. As I glance back down to the faded tiles of the airport in Caracas, I feel a new sense of hope. One day I will help repaint them.<\/span><\/p>\n