Personal Statement It Is Almost Research Proposal

My old home in the Bronx was a Tower of Babel -- filled with the warble of more languages than the United Nations. Every house I walked past on my way home from dinner poured forth different sounds, different smells. The pungency of curry powder, the sun-baked scent of saffron, the strange fermented odor of kimchi -- none of these were of my culture, but all of these smells became part of my world, my soul, my sense of identity.

Then my family moved to the land of odorless bologna and tasteless white bread. I feared my Spanish heritage would become a social liability. What was I to do about my funny name, my parents with their heavy accents and unapologetic celebration of the ways of their homelands? I was an extrovert in my old neighborhood. Now, suddenly I worried about making friends and being accepted.Bringing kids to my home made me feel self-conscious and uncomfortable. I was nervous that my friends would not like the spicy food, or poke fun at me because we spoke Spanish at a breakneck pace, punctuated with heavily accented English. I found myself suddenly resentful of the expansively outgoing nature of my family -- the hugs, the kisses and the endless nicknames!

What was I to do?

The answer, I found was: absolutely nothing.

As time passed, I noticed that my friends not only embraced the ways of my family -- they gravitated to my home. The warm and welcoming nature of my parents seemed to tap into some deep and unspoken longing within my new friends. I gained a new appreciation for the rich culture within the walls of my own home. I moved from feeling awkward to embracing and cherishing my….....