Racism: Race and Student Application Essay

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Student Application Essay Throughout history, those people whom have been labeled “different” have always been treated as the sub-par counterpart of the general population. Modern times are no exception. It’s simply human nature to want to place things, whether those things are human beings or types of food, into groups. Whether it is because of your race, your age, or your physical appearance, assumptions about you are constantly being made. A stereotype is defined as “a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing”. There seems to be an ongoing stereotype that all Hispanics are generally not very intelligent, bad mannered, and dark skinned. I believe these assumptions to be unfair, and harmful to those affected by them. Through resilience and determination, though, anyone is able to break free of the labels placed upon them. I was born in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, a city about twenty minutes from the capital of the Island, San Juan. From the moment my siblings and I were born, our parents have done nothing but try to make our lives as safe and high-quality as possible . Over half of my life was lived there, surrounded by friends and family, but when I was nine, my parents decided to relocate to Massachusetts. They decided to leave their families and friends behind to move us to a new country where our quality of life would be greater than it was in Puerto Rico. My first day of school in the United States was a complete disaster. Now, imagine me, nine years old, entering fifth grade and shaking with nervousness because it would be the first time in my life where I would have to speak English all day long. At this point in my life I was living in Springfield, which is a melting pot of ethnicities. As so, I expected not to be judged because of my race. But, alas, I was. After the school day ended, my teacher promptly suggested that I be placed in an ESL class because she believed that I would not thrive in all-English classes, even though she had no basis for this assumption. By the end of the school year, I was the most accomplished student in the fifth grade. This showed that just because I’m Hispanic doesn’t mean I lack intelligence. At the tail end of my seventh grade year, my family moved to Charlton, where we currently live, and I was sent to Charlton Middle School. It was quite the culture shock for me, going from classes attended by people of all ethnicities to a school where the vast majority of students were Caucasian. Even before my first day of school, I was informed, people where already dreading my appearance as they were under the impression I would be loud-mouthed, rebellious, and an overall trouble maker. So, it was a shock to them to find that I am a quiet, reserved girl who enjoys reading, acting, and gets good grades. I vividly recall one boy coming up to me and asking: “Aren’t you supposed to be, like, stupid or something?” This sort of ignorance is part of the reason I’ve strived to be
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