BACKGROUND
Sex: female
Ethnicity: Costa Rican/American with German
Ancestry
Born in: National City, CA
Parents born in: Father - CA
Mother - Costa Rica
Being
half Costa Rican and half American has always been
difficult. Caucasian individuals usually ask where I learned
to speak English. Mexican individuals want to know why my
Spanish sounds different. As a very young child, I picked up
the understanding that Costa Rica just wasn't very popular.
Teachers would ask me which part of Mexico Costa Rica was
in. When the 15th of September came along all
that was mentioned was Mexico and its history. From
elementary school through high school, I carried a
resentment towards all those teachers that failed to see
that being Hispanic does not equal being Mexican. When
teachers would talk about Spanish speaking countries, I
longed for them to mention Costa Rica. I was proud to be
Costa Rican. But Costa Rica was never on any of my teachers'
top 10 lists. I began to dislike Mexicans because I thought
that they believed they were the only "true" Hispanics worth
mentioning.
In college, I was fortunate to have had Mexican professors
that knew about Costa Rica and valued my country. I think
that my teachers in my schooling years were trying to appeal
to the majority of their students. In doing this, the
minority could and in my did, feel left out. As teachers we
must learn about our students and their cultures. Teachers
need to bring their knowledge about each child into the
lesson. All I needed was for one teacher to notice what was
unique about me.
Being
half Costa Rican and half American has always been
difficult. Caucasian individuals usually ask where I learned
to speak English. Mexican individuals want to know why my
Spanish sounds different. As a very young child, I picked up
the understanding that Costa Rica just wasn't very popular.
Teachers would ask me which part of Mexico Costa Rica was
in. When the 15th of September came along all
that was mentioned was Mexico and its history. From
elementary school through high school, I carried a
resentment towards all those teachers that failed to see
that being Hispanic does not equal being Mexican. When
teachers would talk about Spanish speaking countries, I
longed for them to mention Costa Rica. I was proud to be
Costa Rican. But Costa Rica was never on any of my teachers'
top 10 lists. I began to dislike Mexicans because I thought
that they believed they were the only "true" Hispanics worth
mentioning.