Autobiography, Self

Autobiography, Self

(as written in June 2008)

Not many people know, but I was born in Mexico. I was born in San Luis Potosi. My three younger brothers were born in Reynosa and McAllen.

My mom tells me than in less than a week after I was born we had moved for the first time. My parents had made the decision to move to a northern city in Mexico, Reynosa, Tamaulipas which is also a border city. She tells me that my dad, a United States citizen, left early mornings to work in with packaging companies or in the fields picking fruits or vegetables like lettuce, tomatoes, and potatoes. He would return in the afternoons.

At some point before I reached my fourth year of age my dad had requested permanent residence for my mom, me, and two of my brothers. We emigrated from Mexico to the United States that same year. My life changed dramatically as I started school over here.

I still remember my first years of school. The first school I went to is located here in Pharr, Texas. It was Valley View Elementary; the mighty tiger was our mascot. We would wear yellow uniform shirts with a blue tiger on the front. For the next six years, my family migrated between Pharr and various cities in the Panhandle of Texas due to the availability of agricultural work. It was even more different living in those cities in the Panhandle than in the Valley. I got to experience snow and pumpkin fields, which is great because I don’t think many people in the valley get to experience either one down here in the Valley. The fields were filled with vines that covered the fields with their long tentacles. Snow resembled raspas, which are a flavored crushed ice, very popular in Latin America. The snow would melt in my small hands, but after some time it would burn like fire. School was a little tough, but I must have learned a lot, language is what I got to learn the most. I could not communicate with other students and teachers because I did not know a lot of English.  This forced me to learn English quick and correctly. I really think that living in a environment in which no one spoke Spanish made it more important for me to learn English.

 In the book Frankenstein, a monster is created by Frankenstein. In chapter 12, learns to speak and interact by observing peasants. I was like Frankenstein’s monster in the way I learned a lot of English, by observing others.

After fourth grade those trips have ceased. I did change elementary schools, but here in the Valley. I experienced schooling in PSJA, where I experienced gangs and related activities. I then moved again back to where I began, Las Milpas, and where I am still today. Here I finished my last two years of middle school at Valley View Junior High. Although I have not changed houses, I did change high school. I opted for the Science Academy as my school choice do high school, even though I did go to BETA freshman year.

            What I have gotten out of moving so much is meeting a lot of people and making many friends. I have also experienced different environments that have shaped who I am. Life as an immigrant has not been bad, but a way to experience different environments and mature different, to make me the unique person I am. Just like environments shaped who Frankenstein, the monster became.