Written by: Raquel Marquez-Guerrero, Caminos al Futuro 2019
If someone would have told me that I would be spending this summer over 4,000 miles away from my parents, I would be in disbelief. In my family, staying together is very important since I grew up with a very big family that spent every holiday and every birthday together. My parents are from Oaxaca, Mexico and came to the United States in search of a better life for our family. I had previously not traveled out of the west coast so applying for this program was a huge risk for me to take. Not only that but actually getting accepted into this program was astonishing and scary. Once I arrived in Washington, DC I was welcomed by fourteen other amazing leaders from across the country. I became more aware and felt so welcomed for they were all very nice and thoughtful. We have since grown closer in these past weeks that we have spent together.
One of my favorite subjects that we have discussed so far was how we identify ourselves as Hispanic/Latinx. Growing up, I struggled a lot with my identity since I loved both Mexico and the United States. Not only that, but my family has indigenous roots and it was normal to hear my family speak their indigenous language. Having the discussion in Dr. Vaquera’s class was heartwarming because I felt like I was not the only one that felt uncertain of how to identify myself as Latinx in the U. S.
Not only did we discuss our identity we also had the opportunity to visit the Capitol and hear from Latinx Congressional Representatives. It was truly an honor to hear from the many leaders that are helping to push legislation to benefit the Hispanic community. After we heard from the Representatives, we had a chance to take a tour of the Capitol. Previously, I had only seen the Capitol in media and in movies. The beauty of the building really took my breath away as it holds many years of this country’s history. This opportunity has empowered me and left me with a will to return home and start working towards advocating for my community.
My time in this program really has taught me about how diverse the Latinx community is and what our role has been in this country. More than that I have genuinely have made incredible friends who are caring and intelligent. I also really love the environment in DC and the places to visit. I am very grateful for this opportunity and I am glad that I took the risk to be here.
Raquel Marquez-Guerrero is a Caminos al Futuro 2019 scholar. Raquel’s views are her own and not necessarily reflective of the Cisneros Institute.