Since arriving at GCU in August, I've met a very diverse group of people. A friend from high school who is here with me grew up in Chile. One of my closest friends is of Middle Eastern descent. One of the girls on my floor is this cute little person from San Diego and you'd never be able to tell her family is from the Philippines. Get the picture? However, people are absolutely dumbfounded when they discover my mom is a Mexican woman and all of my family on her side is also Mexican. You know what that makes me, right? If you answered "That makes you half-Mexican," you would be correct!

I grew up in Georgia, I was born in New Mexico, and even though I've lived on both sides of the country, I've always considered Arizona home. My family is here and that makes something a true home. My mom's family has lived in Arizona for as long as I can remember. My grandparents have lived in the same house since my mom was a little girl, and that house is also where some of my happiest memories have taken place. There have been countless family dinners where the conversation is in both English and Spanish, and I'd never trade my mom's homemade Mexican food for anything in the world. With that being said, it's for some reason unfathomable that I speak Spanish when I'm on the phone with my grandmother, mom, or any other person who speaks Spanish. And when people do end up finding out I'm a Spanish-speaking Mexican-American, they want me to "say something cool."

Here's something that is NOT cool. It's very obvious that the rhetoric surrounding Mexico and Mexican Americans is very tainted given the current presidential election. There is this massive anti-Mexican sentiment coming from the right and this has lead to non-Mexican people in power *cough* Donald J Trump *cough*, and even those not in power, to feel that they know what is best for those of the Mexican/Latino community in the United States. Why is it that the US feels they know what is best for everyone?? The only people who know what is best for the Mexican, and overall Latino, community, is those people inside that community.

A few more things that are NOT cool. It has become an issue in our society that we have an idea of what someone from a specific culture is supposed to look like. I am an artificial redhead who has light olive skin and hazel eyes. That means I don't "look Mexican" by everyone's standards. And sorry I don't like the Mexican Mocha Double-Shot. I may be Mexican, but I still think peppermint is the only thing to make mocha an okay beverage. Actually, I take that back. I'm not sorry. What even makes the mocha “Mexican?” And when people find out that I am a Latina, they get really confused and say I'm "so white" for wanting to go to yoga or for walking around with my Kate Spade wallet. First of all, how does one act like a color? Second, why is it a "white" thing to like to have a nice wallet that should last me through college or to want to take care of my mental and physical health? It's also not cool to ask me if I speak Mexican. I'm all for helping someone conjugate verbs, but I don't know what "speaking Mexican" is. I do, however, speak Spanish, and I'm not afraid to call you on the difference.

Now, don't get me wrong, I very much embrace the other half of my heritage. My dad's family is all from the South and I think my granny's house in Tennessee is my happy place, but there is no issue with that because it's still American. But at the point where I can't order my food at a Mexican restaurant in Tennessee in Spanish without getting strange looks from other patrons, is the point where I get more than slightly annoyed with some people. It's easy to feel embarrassed about your language or heritage when things like that happen, but you shouldn't. It's also easy to get mad when a woman on an escalator at the mall in Tucson, Arizona tells you to lower your voice or speak English because she has a headache. Just lower your voice and tell whoever you're on the phone with that people are jerks and continue on with your shopping spree. She's obviously very set in her ways and is probably the reason her 7-year-old granddaughter doesn't believe in the Tooth Fairy.

Still want me to say something cool? Soy una Mexicana y estoy orgulloso de esto. Si usted tiene un problema conmigo o cualquier otra cosa, se quejan de que a una persona que escuche.