UC Prompt 1

Describe the world you come from --- for example, your family, community or school --- and tell us how your world has shaped your dreams and aspirations.

My father was born and raised in Lakeland, Florida, and his whole family before him came from that area. My mother, on the other hand, was born in Cuba, and her family immigrated to the United States when she was six. So on one hand, I have a very traditional "American" family background (for lack of a better description), and on the other, a traditional Hispanic background. Being raised in both cultures gives me the unique ability to be a part of two worlds, but also to stand back and observe one from a distance if I so choose. I was raised speaking Spanish and English. When I speak Spanish (and when others speak Spanish to me), I drift closer to the Cuban in me, and often find myself making critical observations about the American side of me; whereas when I speak English, the opposite is true, and I find myself observing things about my Cuban heritage that might not be so apparent from the Spanish-speaking side.

These two cultures are vastly different in many ways, and the presence of both within me has shaped my view of the world around me. I can appreciate the fact that certain problems have more than one answer; that there are always two sides to a story; that the view from the East is different but no less accurate than the view from the West. I've never liked to associate myself with societies and clubs, nor have I ever strongly advocated a single political party or candidate.

I believe in truth. I believe that there are a certain set of answers to certain problems. Some answers may be more complex than others, and most are probably unattainable by human reasoning. But there can be no doubt that, like mathematics, the problems and inconsistencies we experience in life have an explanation. Hailing from two cultures, however, I realize that the closest we come to most of these answers can be nothing more than varying shades of grey, because there are simply too many perspectives, too many experiences, and too many cultures to derive a single common answer. Certainly, we can come close, and religion attempts to do just that. But ultimately, our opinions are subjective, biased, and tied up in complicated knots of preconception.

I, therefore, aspire to be a person of understanding, one who considers as many angles on any given situation as possible in order to understand it more fully and comprehensively. I love learning, because learning exposes me to more ideas, and ideas are the primary expressway that leads us to understanding. I always crave fresh insights, which is why I so admire the artistically-inclined of the world: the artists, the musicians, the writers, and the philosophers. And most importantly, I admire those who acknowledge that they don't have ultimate knowledge, that they very well could be (and often are) wrong, and that they themselves are constantly in a learning process. Ironically, it is most often those who are most prepared to see the faults in their thinking that produce the most reliable sources of wisdom.