My family has come from everywhere around the world. I have learned many different customs from them. Each that I have inherited makes me one of the luckiest persons in the world. My unique culture is one of my best features. Although it is a mix of Chinese culture along with Hispanic, I have learned to value the ethnicity of everyone who exists in the world.
My taste buds adapted to Chinese food such as tofu, sweet and sour pork, and shark fin soup, as well as to Venezuelan dishes, such as arepa, empanada, and yuca. How did this all come to be? Let me start from the beginning. In order to escape the grips of poverty, my family decided to move from China to Venezuela. I was still an embryo inside my mother’s womb then. When I was growing up, I learned to speak both Chinese and Spanish fluently. I also learned that my father did not like girls very much. I was nothing to him, he said. He even went as far as to say that he was not going to give me anything. His exact words were, "I am going to give all my inheritance to your brothers." It did not matter to me whether I was in his favor or not, but I did not accept his decision that I should not get any more education after elementary school. I strongly believed that women should be given their independence and should have their say in their futures. I rejected the idea that we females were only good for serving as future wives and bearers of the next generation.
In Venezuela, since I was very good at calculating, I started working when I was only eleven years old. We owned a nice restaurant which served both Chinese and Hispanic food. I worked for my family, alternating hours with my mother as a cashier. I should have felt secure and rich at that time, but only frustration and fear filled my senses. Nobody looked out for me. Drunk people, thieves, transients, and even prostitutes took advantage of the fact that I was very young and naive. They ordered food, ate and then left without paying. I couldn’t do anything. If I called the police, they would just pretend that nothing had happened. As for my punishment, harsh words came from my parents’ lips and giggles from the workers. What did they expect me to do? I was just a child. Sometimes I felt that I no longer had a childhood. Many times I would just pretend that I fell asleep in the afternoon so my mother wouldn't call me in to work. Sleep was my escape from reality and my chance at imagining that I lived a normal childhood.
As time went on, my little sister died of a heart attack. My father blamed my mother for her death. From that day on, their relationship grew weaker and weaker. They finally separated but did not go as far as divorcing. It was a Chinese tradition for married couples to stay together even though they were not in love anymore. This tradition made the male more powerful, favoring his pride and reputation over the female's wishes and well-being. Tears came from my mother’s eyes. Later, my younger brother and I found ourselves flying to the United States with her. We turned to my aunt for help and she gave us a place to stay. However, it was not for long. We moved out and rented a cheap apartment with lots of cockroaches. It was a new beginning for all of us, especially for my mother. She was not given the privilege to work. All she did was worry every second about the present and the future. But luckily I had an older brother who took care of the bills, rent, food, car insurance, everything. He has been the person that I most look up to.
Now, five years have gone by. Now, I am trilingual. I learned English the hard way. I took honors and advanced placement English courses even though my vocabulary wasn't that great. Even though I competed with fluent English speakers, I did not fall behind. My persistence and willingness to work helped me become one of the best students in the school. Now I am definitely going to college even if I am going against my father’s wishes.
With my oldest brother’s encouragement, I tend to strive for more. In varsity volleyball and on the basketball team, I learned to play with passion and to work as a team member. With this skill, I have been motivated to become a public relations chairperson for Key Club, a community service club. I bring the passion of working as a team to the other members. With lots of encouragement and enthusiasm, I am becoming more of a leader and less of a follower with every breath I take.
