Growing up mixed race is a phenomenon that is becoming more common in America and is rewarding when you get to learn the history of your family and how your parents came to be. When I say "minority," I never have classified myself as such, but most Latin people are considered minorities. I never grew up with stereotypes concerning Hispanic people and because I don’t look Hispanic, I have not experienced the difficulties some Hispanic people may encounter. However, I’m just as much Hispanic as anyone else who had grown up with both parents descending from South America.

Before attending kindergarten, I was babysat by my Abuelita, Tia, and Mamamama (great grandmother’s nickname), who always spoke to me in Spanish and raised me the way they only knew how. Every family get together thrown by my mom’s side of the family was assumed to be filled with lots of food, music, laughter, and late night dancing. My family raised me speaking Spanish, which influenced how I processed information; speaking Spanish more often than English really does affect learning in school, as do most other languages taught at a young age.

Being in early elementary school was difficult at times because speaking Spanglish or using any Spanish words was seen as strange to other White friends, but the girls who were fully Hispanic did not consider me as one of “them” because I didn’t look like them. I have light skin, often pale in the winter, and don’t hold the typical Latin features. As kids get older, they become more understanding of how you’ve grown up and are curious of how the two cultures mix. There were times when I felt like others forgot that I wasn’t just a “white girl”, but never in Spanish class. For all my fellow bilinguals, you know that you are the go-to token classmate. That’s when everyone remembers that you speak two languages with ease and are (sometimes) willing to help.

Oftentimes, you may have been told “There’s no way your (fit part of your race here)." It can be unsettling at times because it’s telling someone they aren’t something that they are. Hispanic culture is a part of me and who I am. I love being able to help others who only speak Spanish and watching their expressions. But I cherish both sides of my family.

I asked a few friends who have one White parent and one parent of another descent a few questions on how they felt growing up as half a minority. Some of the questions included: "Has your last name dismissed you as being of another race?" and "Did you ever experience the feeling of not fitting in a certain racial group growing up?" The responses varied, but with an underlying theme that early childhood is often met with struggles of fitting in because of not appearing as fully one race. Even my younger sister has told me countless times of when she's mentioned to classmates that she is half Hispanic and she has received replies like, "But you're so White, so you're not really Spanish." It doesn't matter what race you are, you shouldn't have to fit a certain mold in order to "pass" as the race you were born as.

The brightside of being raised in a mixed home is that you most likely celebrate holidays with both sides of the family and partake in the traditions that follow. Each culture holds their own traditions and it’s awesome growing up, learning the special customs and knowing you will hold onto them for your future family. If you are lucky enough to travel to your parent's home country, you've probably come across a richness of the culture and feeling that you are a part of something much deeper and greater than what you know.

One of the most beautiful things to see is both sides of the family coming together to teach one another of their practices. Having been a part of another culture can sometimes be forgotten, but the moment you walk inside and hear a different language speaking back to you, you know where your roots are.