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Beginning in December (today  ), each month the Latino Initiative will feature the voice of one young person who is pursuing his or her goals and waiting to start a family. If you fit this description and would like to be featured, please send us a message telling us a little about yourself. Our first featured youth, Brenda Lopez Benitez, is a biology student and Hispanic College Fund scholar from North Carolina. Read on to learn more about this remarkable young Latina's life and how she's working to achieve her goals and make her family proud!
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I was born in Mexico State, Mexico, where I lived until the year 2000, when I moved with my mother and four sisters to the United States to reunite with my older siblings. I was in the sixth grade when I began attending school in North Carolina. I didn't know a word of English and I can still remember all the nights that I cried at home because I didn't want to go to school and wanted to go back to Mexico, where I felt I belonged. After three years of slowly adapting to the American culture and the language I was declared a fluent English speaker by the ESL program at my school.
I've always been involved in my community, participating in the annual NC Big Sweep and the March of Dimes, volunteering at my church, helping Latino citizens register to vote, and coordinating an anti-tobacco campaign. My sophomore year of high school I made the decision to be the first member of my family to attend college and my journey towards obtaining a high-quality college education began. I'm currently a sophomore at Randolph Community College and will be transferring to a university in the fall of 2009 to obtain my Bachelors degree in Biology. My ultimate goal is to become a pediatric dentist. Being the first member of my family to attend college has been difficult, but one day I want to make my mother proud and be an example for my two little sisters. I know that with hard work and dedication I will accomplish my goals!
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One of the most important identifying values among Latinos is the love and unity we share within our families. That is a characteristic that I want to preserve and inculcate in my children. However, that does not mean that I desire to have a child in the present or near future. I am only nineteen years old and have a long future ahead of me.
I belong to a family of eleven children. My mother had her first child when she was twenty-one. Seeing her and my father struggle to provide us with food and shelter has made an enormous impact on my life when it comes to deciding whether or not to have children at an early age. Unfortunately, my parents were not well-informed and had eleven children with little income to support all of us. As a result, my five oldest siblings had to quit school to work on a farm in Mexico to help my parents raise the younger children. At present, my older siblings are still working to provide my two little sisters and me with an education and a better future in this country. That education is the most valuable gift my siblings could have ever given me.
I have made the decision to obtain an education, honoring my siblings' sacrifice. Therefore, becoming a mother at this point of my life would completely destroy my goals. Having a child as a teenager would be a cruel decision. Why cruel? Because I would be limiting not only my ability to achieve my goals, but also my ability to give my child a better future than mine. In my opinion, being a mother is the most wonderful event that can occur in a woman's life. Giving life to a human being is a gift from God. However, this should take place at the correct stage of a woman's life.
As teenagers, we do not always fully comprehend the challenges and struggles of life. There are many ambitious people who want successful careers, high salaries, and promotions. Having a child at a young age would disqualify me from being able to have a good career in the future because I would have to sacrifice my education. I would have to find a job to be able to support my child. Being a mother is not a joke! Once a woman becomes a mother, she needs to put her desires aside to be able to focus on her child's needs. I am well aware that children require more than just food and shelter; they require a mother who can raise them and teach them how to survive in this society. How could I teach a child something that I have not yet finished learning myself?
Unfortunately, many people believe that being Latina defines our role as women, which is to become mothers at an early age. That is not true! As Latinas, we have the obligation to prosper in this country. We have the moral duty to realize our dreams and to be successful, not only for ourselves but for our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents. Our ancestors came to this nation believing in the dream of success. They brought us here so that we would not have to struggle like they did when they were raising their children. We are the reason our ancestors left their homes to bring us to the land of opportunity. This is the driving force that motivates me to obtain an education. And, becoming a mother is not part of my educational plan!
Overall, I have to thank my mother for being the most influential person in my life when it comes to being a teenager. Her support and advice have guided my life towards the right path. Being able to talk to her and receive her advice has shown me that being a mother is the most challenging aspect of a woman's life. What better example than her own? There are so many wonderful opportunities in this world, and right now my focus is my opportunity to obtain an education. Latinas, we have the world in our hands—all we have to do is reach for it and we will have a taste of the treasures we can find. Young and beautiful Latina, defy the Latina teenage pregnancy statistics. Let's find the meaning in our lives—education, hobbies, work, travel, making a difference in someone's life. But most importantly, live your teenage years—you will only live them once.
4:12 AM
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