“What the heck is a chambelan?” I replied.
My experience with a quinceañera—apart from becoming a world-class dancer—led me to interact with people of different backgrounds, some of whom didn’t speak English. I grew to love dancing the waltz (or “el valz,” as they called it) and saw how important this event was in the eyes of my friend’s family. I felt extremely grateful to have participated—I also feel grateful now knowing that the main chambelan is the girl’s main date. It wasn’t just quinceañeras that I experienced for the first time in high school. My diverse engineering-focused high school in Hawthorne, California introduced me to many new friends of different backgrounds. At my new school, my friend group wasn’t mostly white anymore; in fact, I was the only white person in it. I would often cross …show more content…
On one occasion while discussing politics with my grandpa and brother, we arrived at the topic of immigration. My grandpa then shared his belief that since illegal immigrants benefit from copious amounts of tax money, most of them instead should be deported. I understood his logic, though I then began to remember my own personal experiences with immigration. I recounted a friend whose parents came to the U.S. illegally and who couldn’t speak English. Nonetheless, his parents continued to support his path to college success. I knew my grandpa said that comment because he didn’t have a first-hand experience of immigrants and different cultures like I did. I still feel lucky to have experienced different people and fully understand their