Embrace the Heritage/Shake

Feb 9, 2020

Blog #3

After watching Embrace the Shake and analyzing and applying it to my personal life the first thing that came to mind was my accent and ethnic background. I’ve lived my whole life in Nicaragua, surrounded by people that were just like me, people with Hispanic background and native Spanish speakers. It wasn’t until I moved to Dallas and SMU that I noticed how different I was from everyone else here. Not only do “look different” but I have a strong Nicaraguan accent, that is emphasized when I speak English. As soon as I introduce myself the first thing that people comment on or ask me about is my accent and origin. At first this started to me insecure and ashamed of my background.

However, after a few months I slowly came to the realization that my heritage is a part of what makes me unique. I’ve embraced my Hispanic background and feel proud about my origins. Although I seem different compared to everyone at SMU, I am no longer ashamed of standing out. Saying that I’m from Nicaragua is a phrase that I’ve learned to love. After a few months of feeling shameful, I have learned to love my background and the parts of me that make me more myself. Like Phil Hansenin the TED talk who learned to embrace his shake,I too have gotten around embracing my accent. Not only do accents sound beautiful to me, but they hold a bigger appreciation in my heart. The context behind having an accent mostly stands on the idea of speaking two languages. Two beautiful forms of expressing your thoughts and communicating with others while staying true to your background.

Where I realized my accent and “Hispanic appearance”.