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Esperanza Gomez 

Working on this project brought up feelings of frustration and sadness, but also I strangely found inspiration. My father picked fruit and was caught by immigration three times before getting his U.S. citizenship. My grandparents lived in Mexico and had parrots and beehives. I have memories of being bullied for both not being Mexican/Latina enough and for being Mexican. As a child I was ridiculed and neglected, but as an adult I received both positive and negative attention for my appearance. A strange thing to grow accustomed to after being treated like nothing. Nowadays the most frequent comments that I get is: “Oh, you don’t look Mexican!” (Yes, multi-colored Latinos and other races exist!) or “You’re so mysterious…” (Oh Yeah? Says the person who has never bothered to get to know me?) Deep down I struggle with C-PTSD, depression, and anxiety. Yet at the same time I am a very resilient and intelligent person with many passions.