Artifact #3: Narrative Essay

Getting to grow up in the town of El Paso that borders Juarez, Mexico, I was raised in a very diverse culture that was Hispanic dominated. This offered such a unique and amazing experience, however, listening to the news that was printed about us never really painted an accurate picture. I only ever read about the potential gang violence and drug crimes being carried out over the border, but all I experienced growing up in such a diverse area was acceptance and love from everyone as we were all just trying to get by. I enjoyed getting to hear the different language being spoken as it always perked my ears hearing the Spanish flowing around me, but even as a young girl I remember the frustration of wanting to be able to understand and offer my two cents into these conversations. It's almost like listening to art, not fully understanding something but recognizing the beauty in it. My mom knew that if I was to grow up in such a distinctive town I’d need to acclimate to the people or I’d get lost in a world that was taking place right in front of me, one I wouldn’t be able to understand without learning (their language). Spanish right alongside Englis

“Have you considered the bilingual program for your daughter? I believe that that’s the next step for her as bored as she is in my class.” That’s my mom’s favorite line to quote every single time I asked her why she decided to move me into the bilingual program. This major change occurred when I had just turned six moving into the first grade. Going into the first grade I genuinely felt so alone and isolated. Even though I was an overly confident kid, being the first kid in the family to learn a new language and knowing that I had no one to fall back on to practice with was upsetting. Meeting my teacher Ms. Nieves, however, squashed every anxious feeling experienced up until that point. Every learning experience was turned into a game, and every time I felt like I was cast overboard and stranded out at sea she would throw the buoy out to save me and make sure I was always right there with the group.

Even with all the new ways learning was made fun for me the anxiety ridiculed me more than the joys of something new. I don’t think I can remember a time since then that I didn’t ask my mom when I could finally escape what felt like the most trapping decision she’d ever made for me. For years I didn’t understand the gifts being offered and just resented her for making this decision for me. Her answer to my question was “You can leave the program once you finish 8th grade and have achieved the equivalent of four years of High School Spanish and take the AP college exam. You can you receive your college foreign languages credit.” I knew exactly what that meant, and it was not the answer I was hoping for.

Moving into my 6th grade year of middle school, my bilingual teacher, who I had for 6th-8th grade, emphasized how honored we should be to have such an amazing opportunity as the one being presented to us. At the end of 8th grade, all students in the Dual Language (bilingual) program were required to take an official standardized college reading, writing, speaking and listening assessment. This test took you through a series of questions in several categories and in order to receive a college foreign language credit you had to receive a passing score of 70 or higher. In my head I kept thinking if that’s all it would take to get me out of the four more years of Advanced Spanish classes in High School, I was going to do everything in my power to pass that assessment.

During that time, I started trying to home in on each of these individual areas and improve my skills as much as possible, knowing I only had three years to perfect each area. My teacher offered constant practice and test taking skills every day in class, in order to prepare us for this daunting AP exam at the end of the year. Some of the unique ways that she taught us how to read, write and listen as well as speak Spanish, started to develop in me a passion for what I was learning and accomplishing. Getting to listen to her three favorite Spanish songs and having to fill in the blanks to figure out half of the lyrics being sung by Enrique Iglesias, made me

realize that this passion I had developed for reading and writing in Spanish was no longer a reward-driven goal but something I wanted to be able to carry with me after I left the classroom and actually interacted with people outside those walls. This was the moment I wanted more than just to pass a test and I wanted to dive deeper into this culture and started to really understand the connections I was building with people through my use of language which I never thought possible. This love for the beauty of this Spanish language and the culture kept my drive for becoming as fluent in Spanish present to this day.

If you were to ask me if I still felt as though first grade me was being dramatic, I’d have to strongly agree. I can confess my mentality has completely shifted to a full 180 degrees. This opened my world to be able to read, write and communicate with people in different ways. There’s not a day that goes by when I’m not absolutely grateful for these language skills that have shaped and helped developed me to become the writer that I am now both in Spanish and in English.

Getting to grow up in the town of El Paso that borders Juarez, Mexico, I was raised in a very diverse culture that was Hispanic dominated. This offered such a unique and amazing experience, however, listening to the news that was printed about us never really painted an accurate picture. I only ever read about the potential gang violence and drug crimes being carried out over the border, but all I experienced growing up in such a diverse area was acceptance and love from everyone as we were all just trying to get by. I enjoyed getting to hear the different language being spoken as it always perked my ears hearing the Spanish flowing around me, but even as a young girl I remember the frustration of wanting to be able to understand and offer my two cents into these conversations. It's almost like listening to art, not fully understanding something but recognizing the beauty in it. My mom knew that if I was to grow up in such a distinctive town I’d need to acclimate to the people or I’d get lost in a world that was taking place right in front of me, one I wouldn’t be able to understand without learning (their language). Spanish right alongside Englis

“Have you considered the bilingual program for your daughter? I believe that that’s the next step for her as bored as she is in my class.” That’s my mom’s favorite line to quote every single time I asked her why she decided to move me into the bilingual program. This major change occurred when I had just turned six moving into the first grade. Going into the first grade I genuinely felt so alone and isolated. Even though I was an overly confident kid, being the first kid in the family to learn a new language and knowing that I had no one to fall back on to practice with was upsetting. Meeting my teacher Ms. Nieves, however, squashed every anxious feeling experienced up until that point. Every learning experience was turned into a game, and every time I felt like I was cast overboard and stranded out at sea she would throw the buoy out to save me and make sure I was always right there with the group.

Even with all the new ways learning was made fun for me the anxiety ridiculed me more than the joys of something new. I don’t think I can remember a time since then that I didn’t ask my mom when I could finally escape what felt like the most trapping decision she’d ever made for me. For years I didn’t understand the gifts being offered and just resented her for making this decision for me. Her answer to my question was “You can leave the program once you finish 8th grade and have achieved the equivalent of four years of High School Spanish and take the AP college exam. You can you receive your college foreign languages credit.” I knew exactly what that meant, and it was not the answer I was hoping for.

Moving into my 6th grade year of middle school, my bilingual teacher, who I had for 6th-8th grade, emphasized how honored we should be to have such an amazing opportunity as the one being presented to us. At the end of 8th grade, all students in the Dual Language (bilingual) program were required to take an official standardized college reading, writing, speaking and listening assessment. This test took you through a series of questions in several categories and in order to receive a college foreign language credit you had to receive a passing score of 70 or higher. In my head I kept thinking if that’s all it would take to get me out of the four more years of Advanced Spanish classes in High School, I was going to do everything in my power to pass that assessment.

During that time, I started trying to home in on each of these individual areas and improve my skills as much as possible, knowing I only had three years to perfect each area. My teacher offered constant practice and test taking skills every day in class, in order to prepare us for this daunting AP exam at the end of the year. Some of the unique ways that she taught us how to read, write and listen as well as speak Spanish, started to develop in me a passion for what I was learning and accomplishing. Getting to listen to her three favorite Spanish songs and having to fill in the blanks to figure out half of the lyrics being sung by Enrique Iglesias, made me

realize that this passion I had developed for reading and writing in Spanish was no longer a reward-driven goal but something I wanted to be able to carry with me after I left the classroom and actually interacted with people outside those walls. This was the moment I wanted more than just to pass a test and I wanted to dive deeper into this culture and started to really understand the connections I was building with people through my use of language which I never thought possible. This love for the beauty of this Spanish language and the culture kept my drive for becoming as fluent in Spanish present to this day.

If you were to ask me if I still felt as though first grade me was being dramatic, I’d have to strongly agree. I can confess my mentality has completely shifted to a full 180 degrees. This opened my world to be able to read, write and communicate with people in different ways. There’s not a day that goes by when I’m not absolutely grateful for these language skills that have shaped and helped developed me to become the writer that I am now both in Spanish and in English.

Getting to grow up in the town of El Paso that borders Juarez, Mexico, I was raised in a very diverse culture that was Hispanic dominated. This offered such a unique and amazing experience, however, listening to the news that was printed about us never really painted an accurate picture. I only ever read about the potential gang violence and drug crimes being carried out over the border, but all I experienced growing up in such a diverse area was acceptance and love from everyone as we were all just trying to get by. I enjoyed getting to hear the different language being spoken as it always perked my ears hearing the Spanish flowing around me, but even as a young girl I remember the frustration of wanting to be able to understand and offer my two cents into these conversations. It's almost like listening to art, not fully understanding something but recognizing the beauty in it. My mom knew that if I was to grow up in such a distinctive town I’d need to acclimate to the people or I’d get lost in a world that was taking place right in front of me, one I wouldn’t be able to understand without learning (their language). Spanish right alongside Englis

“Have you considered the bilingual program for your daughter? I believe that that’s the next step for her as bored as she is in my class.” That’s my mom’s favorite line to quote every single time I asked her why she decided to move me into the bilingual program. This major change occurred when I had just turned six moving into the first grade. Going into the first grade I genuinely felt so alone and isolated. Even though I was an overly confident kid, being the first kid in the family to learn a new language and knowing that I had no one to fall back on to practice with was upsetting. Meeting my teacher Ms. Nieves, however, squashed every anxious feeling experienced up until that point. Every learning experience was turned into a game, and every time I felt like I was cast overboard and stranded out at sea she would throw the buoy out to save me and make sure I was always right there with the group.

Even with all the new ways learning was made fun for me the anxiety ridiculed me more than the joys of something new. I don’t think I can remember a time since then that I didn’t ask my mom when I could finally escape what felt like the most trapping decision she’d ever made for me. For years I didn’t understand the gifts being offered and just resented her for making this decision for me. Her answer to my question was “You can leave the program once you finish 8th grade and have achieved the equivalent of four years of High School Spanish and take the AP college exam. You can you receive your college foreign languages credit.” I knew exactly what that meant, and it was not the answer I was hoping for.

Moving into my 6th grade year of middle school, my bilingual teacher, who I had for 6th-8th grade, emphasized how honored we should be to have such an amazing opportunity as the one being presented to us. At the end of 8th grade, all students in the Dual Language (bilingual) program were required to take an official standardized college reading, writing, speaking and listening assessment. This test took you through a series of questions in several categories and in order to receive a college foreign language credit you had to receive a passing score of 70 or higher. In my head I kept thinking if that’s all it would take to get me out of the four more years of Advanced Spanish classes in High School, I was going to do everything in my power to pass that assessment.

During that time, I started trying to home in on each of these individual areas and improve my skills as much as possible, knowing I only had three years to perfect each area. My teacher offered constant practice and test taking skills every day in class, in order to prepare us for this daunting AP exam at the end of the year. Some of the unique ways that she taught us how to read, write and listen as well as speak Spanish, started to develop in me a passion for what I was learning and accomplishing. Getting to listen to her three favorite Spanish songs and having to fill in the blanks to figure out half of the lyrics being sung by Enrique Iglesias, made me

realize that this passion I had developed for reading and writing in Spanish was no longer a reward-driven goal but something I wanted to be able to carry with me after I left the classroom and actually interacted with people outside those walls. This was the moment I wanted more than just to pass a test and I wanted to dive deeper into this culture and started to really understand the connections I was building with people through my use of language which I never thought possible. This love for the beauty of this Spanish language and the culture kept my drive for becoming as fluent in Spanish present to this day.

If you were to ask me if I still felt as though first grade me was being dramatic, I’d have to strongly agree. I can confess my mentality has completely shifted to a full 180 degrees. This opened my world to be able to read, write and communicate with people in different ways. There’s not a day that goes by when I’m not absolutely grateful for these language skills that have shaped and helped developed me to become the writer that I am now both in Spanish and in English.