Uni Writing

The speaker has always been exposed to different languages and cultures due to moving around the Midwest. They had limited exposure to their Hispanic heritage and other cultures in their early years. They developed an interest in languages through a Spanish class in elementary school and a Mexican friend in Illinois. In Minnesota, they furthered their interest in different cultures through books, the internet, and YouTube. They developed a love for Japanese and Chinese languages and cultures and decided to major in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Minnesota. They hope to become a translator and interpreter after graduation. Despite growing up in the rural Midwest, they value their diverse experiences and look forward to exploring the world. Languages and cultures have always been a part of my life, whether I liked it or not. I've had to move around a lot for my dad's job so I was able to experience different cultures in a way you might not expect. After all, I was only moving around the Midwest. I've lived in four states, California, Indiana, Illinois, and Minnesota. I was born in California, but I only lived there until I was a year old. I was born where my mother's family lived, the side of my family that is Hispanic. Because I moved away at such a young age, I didn't get the chance to learn about my mom's culture or any other cultures within the area. If I wanted to learn, I had to do it through other means. When I moved to Indiana, I lived there from before I started preschool up until my first half of elementary school. At my elementary school, we had a Spanish class where the only words we ever learned were hola, adios, rojo, azul, amarillo, the days of the week, and numbers uno through veinte. The rest of our time in class was spent doing coloring sheets revolving around whatever topic we learned about that day. I always enjoyed that class, not because of the language, but because of how colorful the classroom was, and because we could celebrate the holidays like Dia de los Muertos. As an avid lover of Halloween, Dia de los Muertos was one of my favorite days of the year. We would make marigolds out of tissue paper and pipe cleaners, and decorate paper skulls with sequins and stickers. That class made it feel like every day was arts and crafts day, and it gave me an introduction to a piece of my mom's culture. That Spanish class was my first experience with different languages, and I think it started an interest of mine that would end up being long-lasting. This interest carried into my second year of elementary school, which is when my family moved to Illinois. At this private school, we didn't have any Spanish classes for elementary schoolers, but I did have my friend Valentina. She was born on Valentine's Day, and her family was from Mexico. Although she didn't teach me how to speak Spanish, she would tell me about different foods that she liked that I was unfamiliar with. Menudo, a soup with red chili broth and cow stomach, was one of her favorites, and it just so happens to be my mother's favorite as well. I remember having conversations with her about other topics too, such as quinceaneras. I also remember asking my mother if I could have one, but she was against inviting over 200 people to a birthday party, so that idea got shot down fast. My one year spent in Illinois furthered my interest in other cultures, and it had me start to question the world around me more. I don't think anyone would imagine that my true love for languages and cultures started in Minnesota, but somehow, it did. I started my third grade year at a Lutheran school called Silo. Yeah, it's actually called Silo. It was one of those schools that only had like 8 other people per grade, and there would be two different grades within the same classroom. I was at this school from 3rd to 5th grade, and during this time, I didn't have the option to learn any languages or learn about different cultures through schooling. Everything I learned about the world was through books and the internet. I think YouTube really kept me interested in other cultures, maybe because of the WatchMojo YouTube channel. I mean, videos like Top 10 Celebrities Banned From China and Top 5 Things You Should Know About Japanese Schools really kept me interested. After my 5th grade year, I ended up going to a different school just a mile or two down the road. It was a public high school that had around 400 students total, even though the school was banned from 6th grade to 12th grade. At this school, I was able to take Spanish classes again, but these Spanish classes sadly did not involve coloring every day. We did get to make a pinata, though. I would say that I don't really have much interest in the Spanish language, but maybe if I had just learned Mexico Spanish instead of Spain Spanish, I would have been more inclined to learn. It was during my 7th grade year that I started becoming interested in the Japanese language. I started to watch the Japanese media that was on streaming services, such as Netflix. I remember watching my first Japanese drama, called Good Morning Call, and I really fell in love with the language. I also got interested in the Chinese language around the same time, but I didn't get into the language until the lockdown happened. I had a lot of free time on my hands, so I used that time to watch as many Chinese and Japanese shows as I could. I really love how dramatic East Asian television dramas are. My interest in these two languages kept snowballing up until my senior year of high school, when I had to decide what I wanted to do with my life. As it finally came time to apply for colleges, I knew that I wanted to major in something relating to languages and East Asian culture. I applied to the University of Minnesota, and I also applied to a university in Tokyo, Japan. I was accepted into both universities, and I had every intention on going to school in Japan, but my parents didn't like the idea of sending me across the world for my first years as a completely independent person. So, I finalized my admission into the University of Minnesota and decided that I wanted to major in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies. It is my current declared major, and I'm taking a course this semester that already counts towards my major. It's a class about ghosts and the supernatural in Japan and China. I'm also taking beginner courses in both Japanese and Chinese, and to set the record straight, Japanese is harder than Chinese, at least in my opinion. I'm having so much fun getting to learn about Japanese and Chinese culture, and I truly feel like this is what I'm meant to do. There's so much I'll get to learn during my four years at the University of Minnesota, and I hope that when I graduate with my AMES degree, I'll go on to become a translator and interpreter. I've learned a lot about myself and other cultures, even though I grew up in the rural Midwest. They've always been a part of my life, and now I'm glad I had those experiences. Even if I had to do projects and presentations on other cultures for school, I'm happy that I got to have them. It has made me question the world around me and made me want to explore and travel the world. I love Japanese, even when the grammar makes me want to cry. And I love Chinese, even when there's multiple characters that look almost the exact same and sound the exact same, but mean completely different things. I've learned that I actually really love to learn, and that I'm meant to do this. I just can't wait to see what else life has in store for me.