Inspired

I have to say that in reading the three stories of diversity assigned to us, I felt myself become more and more inspired as I read each of them. Especially inspiring was the story of Allesandro Melendez’s life growing up as a Puerto Rican living in Connecticut attending a difficult and exclusive prep school.

The description of the school reminded me to my high school.(A prep school can be a very intimidating thing for anyone, like mine, shown above. image courtesy of:http://www.boardingschoolreview.com/photos/large_2_54.jpg). Melendez explains that Lewisberg prep school was a, “predominantly white and wealthy environment,” (Course Anthology, 857) which was the case with my high school as well. My school also had day students and boarding students, just as his did. So naturally, I began to picture myself back at my school, traveling through each year of high school just as Melendez did. I began freshman year as a new student at my prep school and felt, just as Melendez did, that “prep school was a whole new world for me,” (Course Anthology, 855). I was completely out of my element and terrified, just like Melendez who began to feel that, “I just don’t belong in this place, everyone here is smarter than I am,” (Course Anthology, 855). I felt the exact same way, but as I read this book today I realize that Melendez had one extra fear: “They’ll just laugh at me if I speak in my Spanish accent,” (Course Anthology, 855). That’s when my respect for Melendez began to grow. As I flipped through my years of high school in my mind I thought of the all-nighters I had pulled, the math problems I had struggled over, the science experiments I had performed in my backyard. Then I took the stress and the difficulty of that work and multiplied it by about ten, and I think I accurately understood what Melendez was going through. I honestly cannot imagine attending an entirely new and difficult school while still struggling with English, with being the only member of your family able to be “handl[ling] all the financial, academic, and commuting arrangements,” (Course Anthology, 853). The thought is both terrifying and exhilarating – terrifying because I don’t know that I could ever juggle so much and exhilarating at the thought that maybe I actually could. I would imagine that was probably close to how Melendez felt.

Allesandro Melendez could have failed out of his prep school. He could have worked just as hard as he needed to – as I was sometimes guilty of in high school – or he could have abandoned his racial pride entirely in order to please the white community around him and become “one of them”. Miguel Ramirez could have conceded to defeat when he realized, as he said "the United States was home, but it wasn't mine," (Course Anthology, 837). Norma Andrade could have given up hope when she was forced to take on cleaning jobs that "society [had] taught [her] to respect the jobs of lawyer, doctor, and professor and to look down on the kind of work [her] mother did," (Course Anthology, 848). Instead, Allesandro managed to work as hard as possible to make good grades and become the best while still holding onto his identity as a Puerto Rican.Ramirez and Andrede both put aside their own stereotypes and prejudices that were limiting their successes and eventually became more successful than they could have been in their wildest dreams.(Melendez can call himself both a Puerto Rican AND an American. image courtesy of:http://mentalfloss.cachefly.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/puerto-rico-flag.jpg). It’s stories like his that make us realize just how difficult the life of an immigrant can be and also just how important his efforts are not only for Puerto Ricans but for all races – white included – who can become inspired by his work ethic, determination, and pride.(ALL races. image courtesy of:http://blogs.freshminds.co.uk/talent/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/diversity02_transparent.gif).