Q: Describe the world you come from — for example, your family, community or school — and tell us how your world has shaped your dreams and aspirations.
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It took three times. Three times my mother was left crying. Then we left. I often see this conflict between my mother and my father’s side of the family as the reason why we left to America. The years before our departure were the ones that hold most of my memories, mainly forged in the villages of provincial Peru from which few have arisen amidst strong international racism against indigenous cholos.
I come from deep within the common class – the class that embraces, preserves, and lives through tradition despite relentless exploitation. The phrase “Primero es dios, segundo nuestra patria, y tercero nuestra familia,” which translates to “first is god, second our fatherland, and third our family,” is what we have been taught. Apart from that, into my head was and still is embedded a strong hatred of the people who so cruelly took away the culture and civilization of the most happy and peaceful people and turned paradise into an over-polluted sea of slums. We have experienced five hundred years of oppression, whether at the hands of Spanish conquistadores or the influence of capitalistic/imperialistic powers. To leave Peru was to leave not only my extended family but also to leave my culture. It is the only culture I have been exposed to as America possesses the opposite of culture – something that absorbs then destroys it. Something that is scared of culture. Yet tradition and loyalty have become my stance ever since I found myself in that artificially lit room – an American classroom – next to people with white faces. Eight years later I am proud to state that I have resisted assimilation and retained the same mentality with which I came. To return to Peru every few months is to pick up where I left off, and forget that America exists. To be part of the traditional festivals is inherent because “yo soy del pueblo,” or I am from the village. I am part of the extended Peña family which is based in the village of Carmen Alto up in the Andes – I am serrano (a racist term meaning from the mountains). This is my fatherland; this is the center of my life; where I emerged from and where I return to. Every aspiration I set is done with humility and with my priorities in mind, for no gift or achievement can do me greater than “Dios,” “la patria,” or “la familia.”
I do not consider myself bicultural because I have only one culture. But I am a witness to two different societies to an extent that so few experience especially at my age. I wish to study at an American university not just because it will open opportunities for me, but because it will open opportunities for the people ahead of me. I do not dream of riches, but control over my future and leverage with which to aid my country in its fight to preserve its culture from outside influences.
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