What's up y'all! ¡Que pasa raza! I am a Texan from Houston! While I aspire to be an expert country dancer one day, I dream the most of being a bilingual healthcare physician. When I came into the United States with my older brother and mom in search of the American-Dream, I came in as a scared little girl who dreamed of having a set of dolls she could play with. Despite these hardships and child dreams, I learned that my moral and academic efforts are valuable for my ancestors, myself and family, and my descendants. Because of this, I taught myself English by watching shows like Dora and Maya y Miguel. Kids who looked like me and knew English were on TV, and I knew that had to be me.
I have always been the main translator for my parents from small flyers of the Halloween fair at school to explaining to my mother after her cancer surgery how she is doing and learning medical terms in both languages to make my mother feel safe and sure that she would leave that hospital into the warmth of our home again. Today, as I am more than 1,175 miles from home, I call my parents to make sure that the cameras are working well and paid for and that the meeting I set up did reduce the taxes for our home. This has always been my job and I realize that I want to continue that into my medical interests. In my entire life, my family has been in and out of the hospital: my tonsils removal, brother’s appendicitis, my tumor in my finger, my mother’s gallbladder stones, my brother’s birth, and my mother’s cancer. It almost seems like this is a second main residence for me! The next time I want to step foot in a hospital, I would love to be a professional who can communicate with my own people about their medical problems. I want for first-generation immigrant kids to live their childhood dreams without the pressure of their family’s understanding weighing down their backs. For my community to have an example of success in areas where Hispanics are not represented vastly in, I will put in the work necessary to alleviate our pressure and get back up from any failures along the way.
“Being a Cardea Fellow is a family of students and friends who are not scared of dreaming far and taking you along with them. My fellows make sure that we do not give up on our goals and that we understand our classes while working for them. The way we cry together, is the same way we make sure we all get back up and clean each other's tears. This is a support system!”
