Who am I? Now that’s both an interesting and good question if only I knew the exact answer. If I try to narrow it down, regardless of where I start, I end up at the same place: I am David Galvez. I cannot say I am one particular person or play any particular role, for all my roles make me who I am. And, although I can narrow them down to which one is most important, I prefer not to because these characteristics are what make me unique and make me stand out.

In life, I play multiple roles whether it pertains to family, friends, or school. These roles are what build up my character and makes me both social and amiable to those I encounter. When I am a student, I am focusing on studying and what areas I need improvement in. As a friend, I am relaxed and enjoying my time of leisure or I am the shoulder to cry on. And when it comes to family, my obligations are much too grand to express all of them. I am an uncle, a son, a brother, a cousin, etc. But, what I find to be the most important role I play with my family is that of a role model.

It seems awkward to say I am a role model to my family since my parents are the ones that set these standards. But, I also enjoy pushing my family and challenging them into becoming successful. This determination brings us closer together and makes us stronger when dealing with life’s struggles. But, the main reason why I am setting the family standards so high is due to my two nieces. With one just starting school in a couple of days and the other half way into taking her first step, I want them on the road to success early on. I do not want them to settle for less or become a failure. I want them to think that if their uncle can make something of himself, then so can they. By me going to college and becoming successful, I am trying to give them the message that there are no limitations to their abilities. Nothing will bring me greater ecstasy than to see my two nieces, Nicole and Ashley, go to college and set a higher standard than the one I set. In a way this is also beneficial to me. By me wanting to deliver such a strong message keeps me in check and work harder to reach my goal in college. No one likes to see his or her family (not to mention him/herself) fail and for this reason I consider role modeling to be my most valuable role.

Furthermore, with my roles and characteristics comes my identity. It’s not just what other see me as, but what I myself as also. I am proud to say that I am Hispanic, a Cuban-American, and a confused one too. I fit all the stereotypical qualities of a Cuban: being loud, a passion for dancing, being the life of the party, and who can forget eating beans. They are considered to be stereotypes, but I see them as characteristics that a common culture have and share, differentiating them from the rest of the world. I accept all these characteristics I grew up with; it’s what makes me who I am. Why deny it?

I find myself to be a confused Hispanic because, even though I fit the personality of one, I also contain the qualities for the other side of the spectrum. I guess growing up as a Cuban-American made me bipolar. I enjoy being the life of the party and at the same time I like to shy away and be alone. I love to eat beans, but for some reason I cannot find myself to eat rice. My characteristics take opposite sides, or contradict themselves, but they are an interesting part of my personality.

To sum it all up, I am one crazy case. I have heart-warming roles and at the same time have a bipolar personality. To be honest, I find this to be a comical, yet exact, description of who I am. I take vital roles in my life to keep me on the ball. I also have unique characteristics that literally qualify me as a Cuban-American. I have all the qualities to categorize me as a Cuban, but I am better. I am Americanized. My personality is what makes me such a great and easily acceptable person by common culture. Whether it was due to my parents that I turned out this way, or life’s handful of experiences and struggles, I am glad I turned out the way I did. I could not have put myself together like this on my own. Thanks!

BILINGUAL EDUCATION: YES OR NO?

I say YES!

Whether you agree or disagree with me on the topic, I say this simply because people need to diversify.

Many would disagree and protest that we are living in the United States and therefore everyone should speak English. However, the reality is that the United States has not enlisted any national language to be the primary one spoken. Although this is true, this is not a strong argument on why there should not be bilingual education.

The United States is known to be a "melting pot" of many cultures and ethnicities. With this obvious diversity, it is practically impossible to force such a great percentage of the population into speaking one certain language. If you cannot beat them, then join them. For this reason I find it unjust to limit a childs education and eradicate a bilingual influence in their life.
By taking away a bilingual education from the public school systems, the ability to be more culturally rounded is also being rended from existence.
With a bilingual education a child can, for one, communicate to a larger percent of the population that inhabit the United States. Furthermore, with the expertise in two or more languages, more opportunities for jobs and careers open up to them. With the ability to communicate with different ethnicities, many business are more than willing to hire that person in order to expand their trade to different areas and nations.

Yes it is true that it is much easier for everyone in the United States to just learn English. If everyone were to learn English, then we would all speak one same common language without language barriers. We would not have to learn multiple languages in order to communicate with every different culture residing in the US. But are we going to force the rest of the world to also learn English. We are not the center of the universe. The world does not revolve around us Americans. So do we force the French, the Italian, and the Germans to learn our English. I think not.

It might make it easier to have all Americans speak English. But by enforcing such an act does not prepare us nor save us from the rest of the world. We will still need to learn different languages if we want to trade or communicate with our neighbors.

Just like we cannot force the entire world to learn one certain language (English), we cannot force every American to speak the popular language. This nation was founded on equality among diversity. Our founding fathers left Europe and came to America in pursuit of a place where their diversity will be welcomed. If the ideal from this country's beginning was to be welcoming to those who are different, why are we going to change this ideal now? Who are we to force upon the nation to speak one common language? Who are we to set up qualifications of what must be done in order to live in this country?

If we force everyone into becoming English speaking robots, then the reason why this country was founded, makes it strong, and holds it together will collapse.

Therefore, having a bilingual education (and continuing the process) is vital for the survival and success of our youth. Having a wider perspective in both a culture and language is sure to expand a persons horizon to many opportunities that may pass you by if you are uneducated.