5.

Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition

from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family. 650 word limit.

To have another language is to possess a second soul.-Charlemagne

In my culture, the customary transition into womanhood begins on a girls fifteenth

birthday with a celebration aptly named a quinceaera, which combines a spiritual and
social shift into a new phase of life. The tradition is one other young women around me
experience, but the extravagant dress, the night filled with dancing, and a hall brimming
with friends and family never came to be. Instead, going to China when I was fifteen was
my right of passage. A fancy new camera, an early morning airport send off with family
gathered to say goodbye marked my big day. To travel presented me with a blank slate to
explore who I am, discover my strengths, and grow up through demanding moments of
pushing myself out of my comfort zone.

I was done feeling like I didnt belong. Thick tears streamed down my face as I sat alone
at the small plastic desk in my modest dorm room, and began to eat the spicy noodles I
bought from a street vendor nearby. My headphones blocked out the whizzing sounds of
mopeds, impatient taxi cab drivers, and the buzz of urban life. However, I could still hear
in my mind the comments, you have a weird accent, you sound white, you just think
youre smarter because you understand Chinese better than us. My face burned with
frustration as I grappled with having my identity questioned. Why couldnt I fit nicely
into a little box where what I looked like and where I came from match how I
communicated with others? I recognize my privilege to speak more than one language,
but on the other hand the challenges of learning to coexist in each world is an obstacle I
had pushed aside for a long time. It wasnt until I traveled to China as the youngest of 30
American students from across the country to participate in a month long study abroad
program, was I able to recognize how I would mature in confronting my insecurities.

I struggled as a Latina with the societal and cultural expectations that come along with it.
I listen to corridos while cleaning on Sunday mornings and light a candle to La Virgen for
good luck, but when it comes to speaking Spanish I always want to hide my feelings of
guilt and inadequacy from everyone. I do not speak perfectly. I conceal myself behind the
words of my grandma and mom whose linguistic ease provides a security blanket for my
diffedence.

I was terribly homesick and lonely sitting in my Beijing dorm room. The program limited
my communication with home and I had to rely on myself to stay positive. I was slowly
finding my confidence to continue to interact with the American students who teased me.
I always thought that the culture shock everyone experiences when travelling abroad is
between your culture and a foreign one. When in fact, even though I was having an
internal struggle with my identity, being in China made me feel at home. The busy
transportation and packed subway didnt worry me, as an adventurous eater the new food
excited me, and I always had an ability to connect with new Chinese friends. The
moments when I recognized my unique and wonderful skills reminded me why I wanted
to travel. Experiencing a lifelong dream to study in China wasnt perfect but I wouldnt
change a thing, in fact it changed me.

There is a saying in Mandarin that loosely goes, Old, young. Old, young. It means
maturity and growth is a continuous process from childhood to adulthood. The idea that
metamorphosis is continuous reminds me that there will always be times where I feel
challenged. However, interactions like this shape me into a more thoughtful and mature
person who confronts obstacles and turns them into opportunities.