Being born in a developing country, my parents never put a premium on having a skinny child. In fact, I think having a chubby kid was a source of pride for them. In a world where food was scarce, I was a statistical anomaly. Their encouraging attitudes toward my eating habits resulted in me growing up treating eating as...
I’ll be the first to admit — I bullshitted my way through college.
The “B.S.” (in Business Administration) that will appear on the commencement program alongside my name and major couldn’t be more aptly placed.
From the moment I’d gotten my first taste of that sweet, sweet independence that every insubordinate teenager stuck in the purgatory of high school longs...
I have a job that doesn’t pay enough.
Well, it is above minimum wage, so it’s better than most jobs I had throughout college. It isn’t much, however. Graduating UCR has given way to a new phase in my life, which basically amounts to, “You need to have a steady job and make a steady paycheck or you’ll run...
I remember the scene on move-in day quite vividly. It was almost as if the sun's emergence harkened the apprehension and excitement that always came with moving away from family for school. Having had some experience with roommates already from the freshman dorms and a high school summer program, it felt like things would not be too terrible when...
Everyone knows about the outwardly malicious form of bullying that involves overt force, harassment and sometimes violence. We’ve seen it in movies (such as “Mean Girls”), viral videos (such as World Star Hip-Hop) and even in our own high schools. It’s simply the most apparent kind of bullying because it involves a clear victim and a clear aggressor.
But,...
Kids are mean. In my lower middle-class elementary school, teachers talked about bullying being bad. Then, in fifth grade two kids sat on beanbag chairs as the teacher announced to us and pointed at them, “Bullying has happened in our school.” Everyone in the classroom just remained quiet, but we all knew that was not the only time bullying...
My weight has always been an issue with me. Every morning, I wake up, go to the bathroom, lift up my shirt and pick at the fat I have to drop, before going off on my run. At this point, it has become routine. It’s necessary that I run every day, even if my legs are sore, if I...
I was scrolling through Facebook the other day when I happened upon a short video that was supposed to open up dialogue about the “Chicano identity.” The video was no more than a minute long and the text that flashed across the screen read, “Newer generations (of Mexican Americans) often don’t identify as Chicano and view (the term) as...
“You speak to your mom in Spanish?” my coworker inquired one day at the office when I answered a phone call from my mother. While I didn’t give the question a second thought, it puzzled me. Why was he surprised? I thought it was obvious; given that my coworker knows that I’m Latino, that I would speak to my...
“What are you?” These three words compose the single most-heard question I am asked by the people I meet. Despite hearing it so often, I am still slightly insulted time after time. Isn’t there a better way to ask me what my ethnicity is?
Understandably, I am aware that my face is quite racially ambiguous and rarely have people assumed...