My Experience As A Hispanic Student In America

Sophomore year is about to start and I already know I am going to miss home very much. I am an international student at Liberty University, with a Hispanic cultural background. Leaving my country of Costa Rica to go to college in America was very exciting at first. I did not know what to expect and I started to wonder what my first day of school, making friends, and living in a dorm would all be like.

I had traveled to the United States a few times before going to college and it all seemed pretty cool. The American way of life looked fun, exciting, and something to be jealous of. So all my expectations were based upon these things that I perceived during just a few days of traveling. But when you're traveling, you are focused on enjoying the environment, going to cool places, doing cool stuff, eating the country's food, and taking a lot of pictures. These things are what you do to stop the routine at home, so obviously the place where you are traveling to could be attractive. But all these things changed once I actually started to live there . The fact that my mindset changed is not a bad thing, it just put me in perspective and made me realize that what I have back home is great, and that I do not have to miss something that cannot replace what the time and effort have given me.

Leaving home for the first time to start my freshman year was not that hard. I love adventures and new things, but I did not know this was different. My parents helped me move in and after that, I was all on my own. They went back to Costa Rica and I had to figure out everything else by myself. That may sound easy, but when you are in a country that is not your home, everything turns out to be more difficult.

Ultimately, I adapted quickly to the routine of college - to my new schedule, bus stops, friends, and dorm. But there are some other things that I still find difficult to get used to, but it is just a cultural thing.

Going back home during summer break gave me enough time to really appreciate everything at home even more. I spent most of the break at home enjoying my family. Any reason was an excuse to celebrate - to eat, sing, laugh, eat again, go out, and just always hang out. These are things that we always do, but until this past break I hadn't really noticed them. It made me feel so good and happy to just relax and have fun at the same time.

Going to college for the second time was not easier at all. I even thought for a second of not going back to Liberty, before I remembered that if one wants to conquer great things, one has to get out of their comfort zone and expand the boundaries of their mind.

College for us hispanics might be a little harder than the rest of the people living already in America, but that prepares us to adapt better to circumstances that the future might bring.