¡Felicidades a Alexandra De La Garza!

¡Felicidades a Alexandra De La Garza!

¡Felicidades a Alexandra De La Garza de Southwest High School, nuestro Heritage Student Spotlight por el mes de marzo! En sus propias palabras:

Hello everyone! My name is Alexandra De La Garza. I am a first-generation Mexican-American daughter and my parents are both from Coahuila, Mexico. My mom went to college and my dad went to trade school. They inspire me to succeed and become something useful in this world. At the moment, I’m a sophomore at Southwest High School. I’m in the ECHS program, which allows me to graduate with an Associate’s Degree. I plan on pursuing the health science pathway because it’s something that has always fascinated me.

Spanish was my first language. I learned it at a very young age. I’ve always spoken Spanish with my parents, grandparents and siblings. It’s something that is very important to me. When I’m in class, I primarily speak English because it’s what I was taught at school. When I’m at home I want to separate myself from that. I live in a very culturally infused area, I speak Spanish with most of my friends. I find Spanish to be so fun to know because there’s so much to learn.

Though I am still in high school, a piece of advice I would give to a Spanish heritage student is to continue speaking Spanish because it is a gift. Being bilingual is a superpower and you should never forget that. Knowing Spanish can make you more involved in your community and you should take advantage of sharing it with others.

I enjoy many things about being fluent in Spanish. The thing I love the most is being able to communicate verbally with so many people. Though you may not know them, you can still attempt to because of the language they speak. You can enter an environment you’re a stranger to and understand what’s happening.

Knowing Spanish allows me to have more job opportunities because I’m bilingual. As I said, being able to speak to more people is very powerful. Studying the language in general has helped me learn more about how to properly communicate with others. At the moment, I’m in AP Spanish Literature and Culture and I am blown away by the new vocabulary. As time progressed, I noticed that the more I encountered these words the more knowledgeable I became. When I go home and greet my parents I tell them about what I just learned. Being able to learn more is a great opportunity to expand my mind. When I joined the Spanish National Honor Society, the same thing happened. I get to spend time helping the community while spreading the language. It’s something that feels very rewarding to me.

I plan on continuing to study and getting a job in the medical field. I will use Spanish when there are people needing assistance who prefer speaking this language. Currently, there are 13% of Latinos who work in healthcare and I’d like to contribute in increasing this percentile in the future. I’ve witnessed people not get the medical attention they deserve because of a language barrier and I will work hard for everyone to receive the services needed.

Si usted es instructor/a de español como lengua de herencia, y quiere nominar a un estudiante, favor de entregar una solicitud a nuestro sitio web.