Suzanne

As a Mexican-American, low-income, first generation college student, I often feel drowned within a hyphenated limbo. Coupled with the outsider label of being a “first” — a title that results in only the highest of expectations from those watching — the fear of failure looms in the presence of each opportunity to succeed. While the expectation of greatness often feels overwhelming, I appreciate that the option to flourish even exists — and for the first time for someone in my family, it is within reach.

My rise to maturity is defined by it’s nonlinearity and interruptions. My younger brother and I were raised by our single mother, who had to stop her own education at age eleven to sell fruit to purchase the next day’s meals. When I was in fifth grade, my mother began working two jobs, and I assumed the role of stay-at-home sister and caregiver for my brother – walking him to and from school, checking his homework, feeding him his meals, bathing him, putting him to bed, and nurturing him emotionally and intellectually. While my peers enjoyed more free time, I engaged in a different form of independence. Over the years spent growing closer to my brother, I became hyperaware of the impact my behavior had on him. I gained perspective.

Now, I take pride in my differences.

Because of the sacrifices my mother made, her past serves as a foil to my future. Seeing my influence on my brother, I pledge to instill in him a lifelong thirst for learning. Together, we share a curiosity to learn everything about anything. Our right to education endures.

Despite characteristics I once deemed an obstacle, I now view my hyphens and background as a challenge. With hard work and Leaven’s support, my life’s next chapter is written by an opportunity unavailable to those before me – an uncharted road through which I have the autonomy to create my own future and influence the lives of others. As I have learned, success is marked by the route, not the destination. For reasons bigger than myself, I am the in-between.