“What do you consider yourself Pancho?” Asked one of my good friends.
“What do you mean?” I asked back.
“Mexican, White Latino,” he added.
“American,” I responded proudly.
First Generation American
I proudly call myself an American even though I was raised in a Spanish-speaking home and both my parents were born in Mexico. Their upbringing does not define me and it certainly doesn’t make me a Mexican. However, I was born and raised here in America and my family migrated to the states in the pursuit of a better life with more opportunities for them and their children and even though they were from Mexico they readjusted their lifestyles and made an effort to practice American traditions such as Thanksgiving, Halloween and American Independence Day. The only major difference was my family mostly spoke to Spanish and a very choppy English.
My Mexican heritage was not forgotten because my family made a tremendous effort to take trips to Mexico and growing up my siblings and I were exposed to the different foods and practices of a Mexican culture. Furthermore, my parents constantly got on to us to keep speaking Spanish and never to lose our ability to speak Spanish because “A person who can speak two languages is worth twice as much,” made dad would emphasize. Therefore, still to this day when I come back home from college the main language spoken at home is Spanish but English is more common among my siblings and cousins.
My Concept of the “American Culture”
The American culture is inviting and it’s not solely made up of a specific background or ethnic group. I truly value diversity because it’s the bedrock of the nation. People come from all walks of life and together they America great. When people from different ethnic groups and cultures come together and learn to coexist, their possibilities are endless, but the key is coexisting without killing each other. Therefore, I, as an American, feel the need to go out and learn more about different cultures and ethnic groups because our nation was founded and built from so many different cultures and ethnic groups.
I also feel the urge to travel all across America and the world in order to broaden my world view, because I feel when a person travels and is exposed to different cultures they can better understand other people. This kind of experiences open one’s mind and for the little traveling that I’ve already done, I’ve already seen huge differences in cultures and that’s just from going to a school in the deep South to a school in the Northeast. Therefore, my view of the American culture isn’t so limited to just being one way but it’s more inviting to other cultures.
My obligations as a first-generation American
First off, I feel obligated to take advantage of the opportunities that are set in front of me not only for my family but for the better of society. I feel an obligation to be a citizen who contributes to the progression of a better society tomorrow. Not only that but my parents came to this country later in their age and they couldn’t pursue a higher education because they were too busy working two jobs and trying to provide for my siblings and me. Therefore, I feel that the best way to pay them back is too go to school and better myself in order to set the expectation higher from my younger siblings and potentially my kids one day.
I also really value service to our country so I highly respect individuals who put their lives in danger to serve and protect our nation both in and outside or our borders and I always felt the need to serve, because it’s another way to give back this nation so I invested my time into serving my country and in return I received help for pursuing a higher education. Therefore, I plan to keeping and continuing the tradition of serving our county in my family. I was the first to join the military in my immediate family and if I ever have kids I will encourage them to serve as well because like JFK said, “My fellow Americans ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”
Finally...
I feel an obligation as a first-generation American to be proud of being an American, respect and follow the laws set before me, expand my world view, serve my country and lastly to pursue a higher education and take advantage of the opportunities set in front me because we as Americans are very fortunate to all opportunities we have and it’s every American's obligation to be a positive contributor to our country and society.
