Thank you, Mu.

Growing up, my culture was an internal conflict for me. “Where are you from?” was a question that I did not always know how to answer because I grew up not knowing too much about my ethnicities and culture. All I knew was that my father is a Cuban born & raised, & my mother German (with a couple other countries in the mix, but predominantly German), though she was born in the United States. As a child I spoke Spanish fluently, until my father moved to Miami and I lived with my mom. For years of not speaking Spanish besides the little I did in school, I lost a lot of my knowledge in the language as well as my accent. From then on, I was always nervous and self-conscious about speaking Spanish since I was called a “gringa.” My last name being Hispanic always confused people, and, for a long period of time, I wanted to change my last name to my mothers’ because I thought it fit me better since I didn’t “look” Hispanic. 

Fast forward to my first semester of college in Fall 2019, I wanted to get involved on campus since I was super involved in high school. I came across a sorority that I was already very familiar with since I had known a sister prior, but I then really did my research. The selling point was that this sorority was the “FIRST multicultural sorority in the nation.” As I dug deep into Mu Sigma Upsilon Sorority, Incorporated, I realized this is what I needed to surround myself with since I still struggled with who I was as an individual. For years I didn’t consider myself Hispanic because I often got “well you don’t look Spanish,” or “you have a white accent.” It was not until I became a sister in the spring of 2020 that I finally felt seen with my Cuban side. I learned that there is not right or wrong way of how “Hispanic” should look, that, no matter what, my blood is Cuban AND German. Seeing so many other sisters like me, even meeting other sisters who were Cuban and German too, gave me so much comfort. I was accepted, and I accepted myself. I am proud to say I am a first generation, Latina college student, and I will rep my flags with pride. If it was not for my organization, I would have never found this light that I needed to realize there is no physical description when it comes to culture, and that both of your parents do not need to be Hispanic to be considered Latina.