I was born in a car when my mother was only eight months pregnant. I grew up in New York City. A good portion of my childhood was spent in Washington Heights, a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood in Manhattan. I attended St. Joseph's School for the Deaf until I reached junior high. At that point I transferred to Lexington High School for the Deaf where I graduated.

My family is from the Dominican Republic. As a child I used our own special home language combined with gestures to communicate. Communication with my family was difficult because they all spoke Spanish and I spoke English. I depended on American Sign Language (ASL) more than reading lips, but unfortunately they did not know sign language. Eventually my sister learned how to spell the alphabet and my mom went to school to learn ASL. Our communication has been continually improving since then.

I have three older siblings: Nelson, 30, Francisco, 29 and Martha, 22. My mom was a single mother. She left my father when I was two years old. My father did not support his children or wife, so she decided to leave him. My mom had been struggling to raise all of us on her own. My two brothers got in trouble all the time and both dropped out of high school. My sister and I didn't get along very well.

My mom attended school to earn her high school degree. Years later my mom got better paying jobs. The more pay she received, the easier it was for her to afford food, clothes, and shoes for us and to pay bills on time, etc.

Choosing a Major
I entered college at the Rochester Institute on Technology (RIT) in September 2002. I was not sure what I wanted, so I chose an 'undecided' major while I figured out what to do. I was very homesick. Before entering college I mostly ate Dominican food and hung out with my family almost all the time. I used to walk the neighborhood near school where there were many Hispanic people. This helped me to feel like I belonged. Still, I was in college, far away from my home, my family, and my culture. Sometimes I cried when I was homesick. I stayed in my room and became isolated instead of hanging out with friends.

Nevertheless I made friends. Many of my friends came to me for advice. I enjoyed helping them. But I needed their advice too. By the spring quarter, I still was not sure what I wanted, so I asked my friends' opinions about which major I should choose. Some suggested I should look into social work. I was like PFFFT! Me as a social worker?! Still, I decided to take one social work course and see if I liked it. So far, it is not bad.

My plan now is that I will pursue a bachelor's degree in social work, then I will go to Columbia University in New York to receive a master's degree in Deaf Education/Early Childhood. After that I would like to teach Deaf children in kindergarten and elementary school. If I like teaching I may pursue another master's degree in Business Management. After that, I'd like to build my own day care business.

I have a career plan now, but I still face discrimination. Sometimes I feel that people who are from Puerto Rico often discriminate against me because my family is from the Dominican Republic. They use a special sign to insult my country. It hurts my feelings when I see people insult my country.

I do not see a lot Hispanic girls/boys in college. I would like to meet a Hispanic person who is Deaf and successful to admire. I think we should work to help Hispanic youth to go to school to get more education.