My Spanish-Only Experience

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Oddly enough, my birth certificate does not mention the city I was born in but rather the county. Officially, I was born in Dallas County on August 12th of 1997 to my mother Maria, an immigrant from Mexico and my father Michael, a Mexican American born on a United States army base in Frankfurt, Germany. As a child, the first and only language I had spoken was Spanish. My Spanish-only environment would soon change when I started elementary school, where I was incessantly listening to audiobooks that would sound out the syllables of words. Had it not been for my dedicated and patient teachers and the available resources, I would have had a very difficult time learning English and an overall negative view of learning. As school would finish, …show more content…
In a developing and exceedingly interconnected world, becoming a global citizen has now become more critical than ever. Today, it is nearly impossible to meet people who are not different in some way. Furthermore, race, religion, culture, socioeconomic background, age, and gender are among some of the things that make us different. Consequently, this allows us to become more aware of the world, diminishes discrimination as more are accepted, and overall allows for a more inclusive society where people can work in a productive and less hostile manner. My parents both were born outside of the United States, my mother in Mexico, my father in Germany, and later in life my stepfather, who was born in Egypt and my stepmother who was born in Colombia. I was able to learn about different cultures since I was a child which has supported for me to have different perspectives. Having a weird background has allowed for me to have unlikely friends but overall has allowed me to be more accepting of others and understand different viewpoints. I want to contribute a different perspective to the University of North Texas community and undoubtedly add to the inclusive and family culture at the University of North
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