Waking up at 9 a.m on a Saturday to some really loud Mexican music is a rite of passage for most young Latino kids. It's a calling to us that it's time to clean the house or that Mom is in a good mood. This passage is one of many that us Latino kids joke about as we grow up. We sit down with our fellow primos and friends to compare stories. Although it's a strange situation to be put in, it's one of the most comforting. I hated waking up so early but then it evolved into something that just became part of my weekend routine. I know it's going to sound strange, but now it's something I look forward to. Being a Latino kid has had it's up and downs (99 percent of are ups), and I am so proud that I am given the privilege of wearing my Mexican and Guatemalan pride. Although these things that we do might seem silly, they have become part of my identity, and I would never ever want to change that.

"Mom, where's the pan?" This was such a common phrase that was used in my household. On the weekends, it was known that our breakfast would most likely be pan con café. I would wake up to the strong, delicious smell of a fresh pot a coffee knowing that there was some pan con queso laying around somewhere. It was my favorite weekend activity because it was a way that I was able to treat myself and keep in contact with my culture. Let me tell you, there is nothing like dipping your pan in your coffee and eating it. It warms up your belly and there is no feeling like that. As much as I loved my friends, it was weird waking up after a sleepover and not being able to eat some pan. It was just something that became so routine that I expected it every weekend. Honestly, one of my biggest fears in college was not being able to eat pan (it's seriously one of my favorite meals). But luckily my friends went along with my craziness and drove me to the panederia when I asked. Pan is more than just bread for me. It's part of my identity. Eating pan con café

"Ven aqui. Mira, es tu primo" As a Latino kid, you know that you have more family than you've met. You're related to someone because they're great-grandparents were related to yours and something. Yeah, I really don't know how it works. I just know that I'm related to a person that was a stranger five minutes ago but now is family. I think that's something I really appreciate about my Latino culture. We are always a tight knit family that loves extending our love to others. You might not even be blood-related but I know you as tio/tia/primo. We want to include as many as people we can in our cluster. It's a little weird meeting your long lost cousins at first but trust me, you get the hang of it. It's an incredible feeling knowing that you have a huge support group consisting of at least 25 cousins and tios. They always have your back, no matter what. Family is the most important value in my life and it's because they have showed me the crazy, loving people that they are. They have helped me grow to be the person I am today. For that, I am eternally grateful.

These reasons are just two of many that make me who I am. Like I said earlier, these can seem really silly to you. But to me, they are the foundation of my identity. I love having these quirky aspects of my culture because it just adds to the uniqueness of being Latino. I take pride in who I am and where my family comes from. I love making memories with the people I call family, blood-related or not. I get to express myself in different ways and for that, I am truly grateful. No one will ever be able to take my pride away from me (or my pan), it's a way I identify myself. I love everything about being Latino.