My very own culture clash

I lived in South Texas the first 18 years of my life. Five minutes from Reynosa, Mexico, in a school that was 98 percent Hispanic, there I was, the one whom without my last name, nobody would have guessed I was Mexican in the first place. I didn’t speak Spanish when I was a kid because we didn’t really speak it in my house. 

Selena Quintanilla was a Mexican-American icon where I grew up. The fact that she was murdered at the beginning of her incredibly successful career was a tragedy for our community. We lost someone that young girls looked up to. In a community stricken with poverty and immigration concerns, she was a light for young women who needed to see that they could become something.

A movie based on her life was released in 1997, and when I saw it, this is the scene that spoke to me:

I grew up with parents whose first language was English in a predominately Spanish-speaking place. We didn’t have quincineras, and we didn’t celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve. We didn’t watch novelas or Sabado Gigante.

As we got older, my brothers and I adapted to our culture more, but for me, it wasn’t until I left home that I appreciated it.

The commentary in the scene is absolutely accurate. Mexican-Americans (especially when you’re around people from Mexico) have it the hardest. I just enjoy freaking waiters out at Mexican restaurants when I perfectly roll my R’s and order in Spanish.

— Sandra de Arrigunaga

Four Crossed Logs intern

professional communication major