A place where my strongest commitments lie would be within the Hispanic community. This community is not only full of heritage and rich in culture, but also reflects values that I and many others hold. I believe that this community means the most to me, out of the list I created of many other communities I belong to, because it allows me to think in a certain manner. When I say think, I mean it as a way of being part of my daily routine in life. Being Hispanic provides a viewpoint that only few understand.
My values are enriched within this community more than meets the eye. As a Hispanic, I believe many individuals look down upon this very community. Not only out of negative intention but simply in a general aspect of life. This meaning that our community is faced with assumptions that we are only capable of doing so much that our roots and backgrounds will not allow us to achieve better qualifications or improvements within our lives. Therefore, as a part of this community I strive for success to prove individuals wrong and achieve for myself while spreading a movement that will sure be followed by many others to do the same. For ourselves and for our Hispanic comminute.
My feelings and viewpoint about my Hispanic community comes from a personal experience of being stereotyped that I have lived through. Typically I always personally get from strangers that “I will never achieve a high position anywhere I go because I can only do so much”. Comments like these just make me stronger and push harder towards my goals. Roughly not even 1 months ago before Summer Bridge, my family went on a mini vacation to Rhode Island to visit a cousin. Long story short, I walked into a store with a UT shirt on and when I was going to make my purchases before I could say hello, the lady at the cashier asked how I was going to pay for my things. I simply replied, “In cash” and she replied back “of course you will like all you others”. I did not know how to respond as I was in clear disbelief. She then bluntly told me that I should wear “college shirts that I know I could get into”. I will skip what happened next solely because it escalated very quickly due to her fixed assumptions of my Hispanic community. However, situations like this only make me stronger as I stated before.
Another community I associate myself to be a part of is the single parent community. Many assume that individuals who have only one parent for numerous reasons such as divorce, generally take the “wrong path”. This assumption gets truly annoying and has no meaning. I come from divorced parents and look where I am now. Achieving great things with my life. If anything, the value I hold within this community is that it has made me stronger and shaped me into the person I am today.
One organization that I have found using the Hornslink database is the Hispanic Student Association. The student organization offered on campus states that it helps providing support and improve society for all. Which is generally good. Also, this organization will give support and overall give me a place where I can enjoy myself and make a change within my community. https://utexas.collegiatelink.net/organization/hispanicstudentassociation
I can relate to you when you say you are a part of the single parent community. I also grew up with my parents being separated. Being black and having grown up in a single parent home is something most people aren’t shocked to hear or already have preconceived assumptions. However, both of my parents were very present in my life and supported me financially.
I understand where your coming from. I too am a Hispanic with divorced parents. I remember days when all the people in my school would tell me to go to A&M because they were concern that i couldn’t pay for UT. Every time someone told me that, it just made me even more fired up to prove them wrong. I remember immediately when i told my college adviser that i wanted to go to UT, she gave me a look and said “That’s going to be a lot of money on your mother” She knew i came from a single parent household, and i felt insulted. Yet, through hard work i prove all of them wrong when i told them i got in with scholarships and a spot in the summer bridge program.