"Say that again please?"

"Are your thoughts in English or Spanish?"

"Can you teach me something?"

Just a few choice phrases that have been said to me over the course of the year I have been going to the University of South Carolina. Now, I have spoken Spanish my entire life; at one point I knew more Spanish than English. However, this never seemed to be the slightest bit interesting or even something impressive. It was simply a part of my life at that point. I was bilingual, but so was everyone else in my life.

I am Colombian, Dominican and Puerto Rican. However, I was born and raised in Miami, Florida.

Growing up in Miami, I was socialized to think that if you didn't know Spanish, you were an oddball. It was a matter of teaching those around you English to make day to day tasks easier for them. However, chances are, whoever helps you at a store, restaurant, or even a gas station can speak Spanish.

My perception of learning a second language completely shifted once I moved to South Carolina. As soon as fellow students heard me conversing with my parents in a different language, their eyes would widen and curiosity would spark inside of them quicker than I could introduce myself. Some knew I was Hispanic even before we properly met. I didn't think it would be any sort of interest to anyone but to this day, my second year, people are still impressed. Sometimes I want to remind people that I was born into it, that I didn't choose it.

Another aspect of being part of a seemingly small group at USC (which I am definitely used to being part of the majority), is that I was told to join a club where the majority of "my people" would get to know each other and not "feel alone," exact words. This club, however, although having extremely good intentions, made me feel like more of an outsider. Something that I had never truly experienced.

Then, slowly, I started to understand that I was different.

I couldn't play Spanish music and expect everyone around me to chime in, no one really really understood what I was saying when talking to my mom, some of my friends felt left out of conversations because they couldn't understand them, and more would happen. Eventually, I accepted that I kind of stood out at this school, but I also accepted that that was perfectly okay. On one end, no one really cares, and on the other, yeah, it's pretty cool.

Growing up in a city where the majority was a melting pot of different cultures, races and ethnicities, I had never really realized that being Hispanic meant something. Of course, I was proud to be where I'm from, but moving to South Carolina has helped me understand and feel true pride to be different.

I had never truly appreciated my culture and my roots until now. I have college to thank for that. I wouldn't change anything about where I'm from, only that I would've felt this way about it sooner.