Leslya Chavez,
Houston, TX
Born and raised on the East coast of Virginia, though was raised in a Hispanic household. Grew up only Spanish till I was placed in Kindergarten and had to teach myself English. Coming from a Hispanic background where Spanish is your main language at home and then your second language is English, even though I was born in America. I still had to make sure my culture continued to grow within me. It got to a point where I became fluent in both languages and even people in the Hispanic/ Latinx Community would see me as a White girl. Just because I’m light-complected and don’t have the features of a Hispanic person. Deep down it breaks my heart when I have people or simply patients that have difficulty getting around their daily lives and I encounter them struggling to try to explain to those around them that they need help looking for something. And when I see them struggling I do the best of my ability to guide them in the direction they are needing. The face of relief they give me when I ask them if they need help in Spanish fulfills my heart each time. Though, it’s saddening that even within my culture I’m just seen as a helpless white girl that doesn’t know Spanish at all. And it shouldn’t be viewed that way, or even simply looking around for someone that is tan or darker complexed and ask them for help. Therefore they should at least build the courage to ask if someone around speaks Spanish and if they could be of their assistance.
