Chavez experiencing college dream
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Now, imagine you don?t look like them, you don?t speak the same way they do, you don?t really understand the things they?re talking about, and then they all look at you. What would you do? How would you feel? Would you leave?
Jaime Chavez faced that very situation when he entered Sewanee three years ago and began his college career. What he chose to do was stick with it, integrate, and learn what this new world had to offer him.
?It was a challenge because Sewanee is a liberal arts school and most of the students come from high-income families and private schools,? said Chavez. ?I was from a low-income family on a scholarship from a public school. I didn?t know the things they did.?
He?s chosen economics and Spanish literature as his majors and has learned how the world works materialistically and about his own Hispanic culture too.
?So many times when you try and integrate into another culture you stop learning about your own. I came to the United States when I was 13 and I would get asked questions about Mexican history and I wouldn?t know the answers. I didn?t know the literature, I didn?t know the grammar. I had never been taught.?
So when Jaime went to college, he took classes about the history of Mexico, read Spanish literature (classics and modern), and took Spanish language classes to improve his knowledge of grammar.
?It opened the world to me. In high school I was still learning English and so I missed so many important things that were taught. In Mexico I never learned our history or about our culture.?
Jaime had his eyes opened even more when he had the opportunity to study abroad in Spain and travel to South America. In Spain he learned about Franco and Hitler and it changed the world in his eyes.
?I never knew that one man could be so influential, could change the world so much. I had never heard of Hitler before or Franco. Franco destroyed a country and he was only one man. It seemed impossible.?
While learning about the influence one man can have on the world, Jaime also learned about himself.
?Going and living in someone else?s culture makes you examine your own culture and beliefs. I?ve been able to see what parts of me come from my culture and the things I?ve been taught.?
Smiling he illustrates his point. ?Before I went to college and studied economics and traveled I never thought about the reason I use a tortilla to pick up my food instead of a fork. We are conditioned as little children to accept those things we are taught and never question them.
?Now I can see the reasons for it. Mexico is a developing country and in developing countries the people cannot afford things like knives and forks. India is also a developing country and there they use their hands to pick up their food.?
When asked if he had begun using a knife and fork instead of a tortilla because of the things he learned he smiles again and replies, ?No, it is part of who I am and my culture. I am proud of my heritage and want to keep those parts of myself and pass them on to my children and family. The only thing about me that has changed is I now understand the reasons why.?
Hispanic scholarships
Nora Wilson, who is fluent in Spanish, has profiled three Hispanic students who are pursuing college scholarships. This is the third story in a three-part series the Standard is publishing.