- Describe an experience in which you were “displaced”- In the fourth grade, my school placed me into a specialized Bilingual program where the principal language in which students learned core class material (english, math, science, and social studies) was Spanish instead of English. ( this was not ESL, but rather a “specialized” program offered to native speakers who wanted to enrich their second language.) Before this grade level, I had never taken a reading or writing class in Spanish . Transitioning into an environment where the only time we were allowed to speak English was for our “additional language” class (as they called it) really affected the way I Interacted and socialized with others. It was definitely a year where I felt challenged and often out of place, especially because I wasn’t comfortable or used to speaking in a language that wasn’t english for most of the school day.
- Exploring a place that is meaningful to you- VSPAC, my community’s dance studio, is meaningful to me because its a place where I grew up in that allowed me to explore a hobby I found great interest in . It is also the place that introduced me to my childhood best friends which I still keep frequent communication with today.
- Explore your own relationship with language- “Spanglish” is a language that I would consider myself to identify with most. Growing up, my parents and friends often spoke sentences that combined both languages together, which I eventually learned and picked up. I grew up with Spanglish and it continues to be a part of my daily vocabulary.