Our identities are formed through life experiences both chosen and inherent to our birthplace and upbringing. Throughout my life my identity has been both fluid and rigid, growing and changing through my education and life experiences while based upon the values given to me as a child. I have been challenged to analyze my identities and the role they play in my everyday life throughout my higher education; and this exercise has helped me in gaining a greater knowledge of self in a time where that can easily be lost in others’ expectations. I am proud to be a woman, a Christian, a southerner, a democrat, a Spanish-speaker, a member of the LGBTQ+ community, a heart patient, and a student, amongst other things. In my short-term decisions and my long-term goals, these identities are subtle forces. In my decision to spend my second to last semester participating in the Washington Semester Program at American University, these identities and my goals for the future cumulated in an impactful choice.
As I have traveled throughout my life I have not only come in contact but grown close to numerous individuals with identities vastly different than my own. As an exchange student in Perú I was thrust into an environment and culture unfamiliar to me. Speaking little to no Spanish, I experienced culture shock over things as small as kisses on the cheek to experiences as big as taking public transit to school in one of the biggest cities in South America. Throughout my year then, and my recent return over the summer I was able to appreciate many of these differences and learn from cultural aspects that I believe to be better or worse than in the U.S. I love the warmth of people there and try to show that same love to the people in my life in the U.S. I love the food and have learned to cook many of their dishes. I hurt hearing the sexist comments from men on the streets but have learned enough Spanish to tell them how I feel. The Peruvian identity is complex, and I am so thankful to have experienced it for so long. I am grateful to be able to identify with the experiences of many Peruvian-Americans and to be able to speak to the struggles and triumphs of a country that I love.
As I depart for D.C. I anticipate cultural differences as well. I expect to interact with many individuals whose identities are also complex and different than my own. I am hopeful to grow both personally and professionally in my courses and internship, which are all focused around government affairs. And as a kid who has moved around quite a few times, I expect to blend. I expect to learn the city and experience it as locals do. Not now, but soon, I will have a new piece to my evolving identity if only for the semester, Washingtonian.
