Monteagudo 1

Alex Monteagudo
ENGL 115
Professor Lawson
3 October 2014
Culture and Identity, Final Draft
Word Count: 1,313
My Guatemalan American Identity
Describing ones identity takes countless aspects to cover. The many details that you can
find are endless. When it comes to describing my identity, I catch myself thinking of the many
elements that make up who I am and the influences that have shaped me. To be very blunt, I
would describe my identity as being Guatemalan American and as someone who tries to make
the most of the opportunities given. The identity and attitude I carry stems from my personal
experiences, influences, and cultures that I have been most familiar with throughout my life.
The culture in my household is Hispanic. Both of my parents were born in Guatemala and
moved to California at very young ages. They never forgot their Guatemalan culture and they
made sure to pass it on to my two sisters and myself. Although some American culture is mixed
in, we always make sure we hold on to our roots. At any time of the day, you will almost always
hear Marimba playing from my moms radio. Marimba is a genre of music that is very popular in
Guatemala and also has a distinct dance to it. Throughout my house you will also find a number
of Guatemalan flags and fabrics that have a very colorful pattern and are handmade by the
indigenous Mayans from Guatemala. Spanish is spoken most of the time inside the house as well
but there is a large amount of Guatemalan slang that is used. The most common slang word
used in my household is Bs. Bs is a way referring to a person and it is easily compared to

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calling someone Dude. The food that my mother makes has a very Latin background with
many recipes from all over Central and South America. All of these aspects connect me with my
Guatemalan culture, some more than others, but through these, experiences I have learned to
express myself in different manners and they have influenced me in what I take a liking to such
as the type of people, music, and sports that I surround myself with.
My personal experiences have also shaped me into the person that I am. Through first to
twelfth grade, I have attended private Catholic schools. Religion is very important in Guatemalan
culture, so my parents decided to give me a Catholic school education. Attending private schools
almost all my life is one of the biggest influences on how I compose myself today. I treat others
with respect and I try to be kind to everyone even if it may not be so easy. The image of private
Catholic school students is that they are the good kids who do not do anything wrong, but that is
rarely the case. In my past experiences, I got into a good amount of trouble while in Catholic
schools, but I learned from what I did wrong and it shaped me into the person I am now.
Another experience that shaped me was a trip that I made last summer to Guatemala. I
had never visited the country before and I was very excited to visit. I anticipated my arrival
because of the large number of family I would meet for the first time. Upon exiting the
Guatemalan airport, I met about 30 new family members for the first time. Although it may be
difficult to believe, that was only a fraction of my family in Guatemala. During my time in
Guatemala, I had the opportunity to mingle with family I never met before, practice and improve
my Spanish, and connect more with my Guatemalan culture. There were aspects of the culture I
had never experienced before and it was a big change in how I identified myself. I was happy to
find myself further connected with my Guatemalan culture.

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Along with my experiences and the cultures that I have been exposed to, the influences
such as the people and sports have been the biggest factors in my shaping who I am. The two
most influential people in my life are my parents. They have taught me how to be the person I
am today and how to treat people with kindness. My Dad has influenced me in a way that not
just anyone can. He grew up without a father and worked hard for all of the accomplishments he
has earned. He got a job at the age of 14 in a factory so that he could help out his mother with
bills and by the age of 17, he bought his first car. He went on to attend Loyola Marymount
University where he earned his Bachelors Degree in Business Administration. Fast forward to
today and he is married with three kids, has been able to provide our family with a house, and
has worked to put his three kids through private schools so that we may have successful lives. I
try to model my life after his, a person who worked as hard as he could to get what he wanted
and even when he failed or thought there was no way out, he kept fighting. The biggest relation I
have made compared to my Dad was getting a job when I was sixteen and being able to buy my
first car when I was eighteen. I carry his go-getter personality and in the future, I plan to do just
as much, if not more, than what he has accomplished.
My mothers influence on my life is just as huge as my Dads. My mother was able to
overcome barriers at a very young age when she came to the United States from Guatemala at
the age of fourteen. She had to learn a completely foreign language and adjust to American
culture, which is hard for a family who has never experienced it before to do. After overcoming
the obstacles of moving to a new country, she was able to live a more stable life. She has always
been someone who will get what she wants by working for it and she has instilled that attitude in
me. My mother has taught me how to respect others and how to carry myself as a humble and
kind person. I would not have the personality I have today without her.

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My parents taught me many aspects of how to succeed in life and one way they did this
was by enrolling me in different sports teams. I started playing sports when I was six years old
ranging from baseball, soccer, basketball, football, and volleyball. Throughout my life, soccer
was always my favorite sport to play. Soccer is huge in Central American culture and playing
made me open my eyes to many ways of expressing myself. Soccer taught me how to be a team
player and how to communicate with others. It influenced me in my personal life and most
especially my personal life. Soccer always brought my family together and helped us bond. This
was most evident during the World Cup this past summer. The excitement and passion we hold
for soccer makes us a closer family and has taught us that family is a huge part of life. The
influences I gained from soccer are part of how I communicate to others and view on my family.
In the end, my Guatemalan culture, experiences, parents, sports, and influences are what
have shaped me to be the person that I am today and how I identify myself. My parents have
been the biggest influence to me because of the way they raised me into Guatemalan culture and
how they overcame obstacles in their life to find success. Many of my personal experiences such
as traveling and playing soccer have connected me closer to Guatemalan culture and have
showed me how to express myself. I am happy to say that being Guatemalan American has made
me the person I am today.