One of the greatest legacies my grandparents left us is our native language. As a child, I never realized the power of the Spanish language to share our story and the story of our ancestors. I am grateful to have learned about our family history, customs, and traditions directly from my grandparents through the oral history they imparted. More importantly, as an adult I now realize the influence Spanish had on creating a strong sense of identity, pride, and individuality within me.
On more than one occasion, my sense of pride and identity as a native Spanish speaker was questioned. Usually the questions came from English only speakers or people with subtractive views of Spanish speakers. During my youth, I found myself striving to sound more like a native English speaker while I struggled to determine what pieces of my Mexican-self I needed to abandon. These were very difficult years because somehow, I bought into the narrow-minded notion that speaking Spanish is not part of being educated in America. The opposite is true.
As I become more educated and gain greater experience both in the personal and professional realms, I realize bilingualism is a cognitive, functional, and experiential advantage over monolingualism. Although my experience is not unique, it is my goal to give a voice to English Language Learners (ELL) and share my journey from ELL to Ed.D. with whomever it may positively influence in their own life path.
