I have lived in Portland for about 5 years after living the majority of my life in San Diego, CA. When I first came here to Portland, I was completely blown away by the sheer amount of differences Portland has; from how I am a minority living in a predominately white city, how green it is, but most crucially, by how the people are and treated me. I sometimes have to navigate the city in terms of finding people like me in school or people who I’m not afraid to share my struggles and beliefs with.
As a person who identifies as a Mexican/Chicano, it’s sometimes hard for me to connect with others who express the same way. It’s sometimes daunting if I speak to somebody in Spanish and they don’t speak it or if my Spanish isn’t good enough, because I will be judged or put down. Because my father never taught me Spanish, this adds to the struggle for me to connect with other Latino people. As a result, this led me to not having a lot of friends, which was something I was not accustomed to when living in San Diego.
My self-image, beliefs, traditions, customs created tension between myself and my peers. It’s like I was living a very different life in a different country; like, never being able to connect with my neighbors, or being with my mom, or having to experience a very different climate than what I’m used to. I am never able to enjoy the life that I had, but felt that as time went on, it would change.
Nevertheless, one of the ways that I always and continue to find myself, and enjoy life, is through the game of soccer, which I hope to play professionally someday as it’s my life and passion. I love it, sometimes even above my education. One of the things that I love about soccer is being able to connect more with the Latino community, but also to make an impact to others and how they see, but also because how diversity is enforced in the game, and it’s a concept that I truly believe in. It’s also very reflective for me to contribute and give to the community, since growing up was no different for other working class Latinos who worried and struggled with finding employment or paying bills or having to face discrimination. It’s also one of the core values my family and peers cherish about me: it’s about giving to the community, but being responsible and compassionate.
While I continue to dedicate my life to achieving my goals, I hope to see the Latino community not just in the U.S., but in Oregon especially, being represented and to see good changes happening for them. I see more and more gentrification happening in my own community (something that I never personally experienced until now). I feel sad to see so many Latinos being pushed out of the community. Nevertheless, as time goes on, I hope and pray to see more Latinos living in Oregon and to see them being more represented in society as a whole, because they deserve their stories and lives to be acknowledged. Not only because of how much they contribute, but also because they have sacrificed so much for society as a whole.