Introduction-Elijah Gonzalez
- Hello, my name is Elijah and I am 18 years old. A lot of what makes me who I am comes from my responsibilities as an older brother of 6 children. I do not live with all of my siblings as my parents are separated. I am often entrusted of picking the kids up from school, watching over them when our parents are away and all in all being a good role model for them. This caused me to be the responsible and mature person I am today.
- My ethnicity is Puerto Rican and Irish. Both of my parents are Puerto Rican but my mom is also Irish. I can’t say that we practice any type of Irish cultures, but we definitely practice some of our Spanish culture, often time by food. Sadly, I am a part of many Puerto Ricans that grew up in a Spanish household but do not know how to speak Spanish.
- I am a proud member of the LGBTQ community and will continue to be even if my likes and dislikes change. Ive seen first hand of the discrimination placed on people of the LGBTQ community just for living life the way we choose to. I live for the annual pride parades as they are a showcase of the grand community and love that we have for each other. There is strength in community.
- My parents separated when I was very little, so I don’t have any memory of them being together. I lived under the care of my mother, and while I had a great childhood there was a number of hardships I endured under my mothers care. Although my parents are separated and have been most of my life, My mother and my dads side of the family are very much interactive and intact. My dads family took care of my mother and her siblings when she was younger as she was under the care of her drug abusive mother. This is beneficial for me because it does not give me a sense of having two different families, but instead having a very large blended one.
- Now more than ever, I try to focus on the things that make me happy and promote my self care. From listening to music to getting a tattoo, My self care has never been more important to me. I think it’s important for people to block out all other factors once in a while to just really pay attention to their self and only focus on what make them happy.
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Although my situation hasn’t been as difficult I do understand the pressure of being the first child. I am the eldest out of 4 children and often times I found myself having to replace the mother or father figure whenever it was necessary and although it was exhausting at times, seeing them happy made me happy.
Eli, Thanks so much for sharing all of these important aspects of your identity. It sounds like being the oldest sibling in a large blended family has has a strong positive effect on your sense of responsibility and ability to maintain family relationships; it must be a lot to juggle! Too bad we are not in the classroom to see your tattoo in person!