When I was five years old my mom was given the opportunity to work for her company’s US branch that was stationed in Omaha. After having heard repeatedly that the United States was the place of all things greatness, there was no way she could say no.

So here we were, my mother and I in a country who’s language I had yet to learn. My mother often repeats the story of how when we first moved all she packed for me was winter clothing because we moved in December. And we were told that it was very cold in Omaha, especially when it snowed – you can imagine how confused we were when we arrived and it was 70 degrees and people were wearing shorts.

We weren’t too misguided however, because as Nebraska weather would have it, it snowed three days later. Aside from their very different climates, Mexico and America are different in many other ways. The coldest it gets in Mexico is approximately 50 degrees Fahrenheit.

Here during the winter, we get not only snow but also weather cold enough to make the hairs in our noses freeze the second we stepped outside. In Mexico, the houses are made of cement and brick and here they are made mostly of wood. Here, to get to the nearest store it is usually at the very least a ten-minute drive while in Mexico you can find stores on every street at the bottom of houses where a garage would be placed if garages even existed in Mexico.

Despite the differences, the people of Mexico and the United States are similar in many ways, and yet, as a Mexican I was always treated a little differently.

I grew up answering and putting down negative ideas that people formed of me. They were often pity based, because they knew that I was Mexican and it seemed like being so made me some sort of different species. Thirteen years later, and I now understand why people asked me the questions that they did.

Stories about drugs, kidnappings, and murder in Mexico were being constantly replayed and published in the media. Stars, like Sofia Vargara from Modern Family, were being given roles that portrayed Latinos or in this case Latina women like the stereotypical un-intelligent, big breasted, stay at home moms they were "supposed" to be. In movies, Latinos are usually the maids, the cooks, or the gardeners.

In this time of political debate, immigration has become synonymous with the term Mexicans. But, if all I had were these movies and stories to base my mental image of what I thought Mexico and Mexicans were really like, then I too would have thought the same things.

When I go back to visit Mexico, my family and friends always ask me what the US is like. I remember one time in particular when my grandma saw on the news that there were heavy rains and tornados in the US. She had called me and asked me if we were in the basement even though the tornados were in South Carolina.

It is crazy how we assume that just because one person, one thing, or one story says something, it automatically makes it representative of everybody else. It is important to go beyond the stereotypes we're shown. It is important to remember to go beyond what we see.