“Stop acting like an Americana! You are a Mexican!” According to my companions in public high school, my academic success was predetermined by my skin color. Unfortunately, their ideology was supported by those around us. Teenage pregnancies, drug rehabilitation, parole officers; this was the norm, and academic success was not. To act more successful academically was an act of abandonment of my culture. I sought an escape from this negative frame of mind. During the second semester of my freshmen...

I told my own personal story and shared an honest personal...