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BREAST IMPLANT ILLNESS SURVIVOR
Less than a decade ago I decided to alter my body with breast implants. I thought this would be the answer to the low self esteem & lack of confidence I was dealing with at that time. I shared with my husband that I was considering implants and he supported me although he did not agree with my decision. In fact, he tried to persuade me not to go through it up until the last minute before surgery. I assured him I had done a thorough research on pros and cons and felt I was making the right choice. My doctor reassured me the implants were safe and would never…
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Life as a Migrant Student
“Ya son las 5:00 de la manana, levántate a usar el baño antes que tu papa.” My mother would whisper to wake me up. We lived in a very small one bedroom apartment with one bathroom. We couldn’t wait to move into a trailer home, but those were given to families that had seniority. We started traveling to Wisconsin as migrants since I was in elementary school. We would attend school Oct- April and migrated up north end of April or beginning of May. We never had a chance to finish the school year with our classmates. We gave our notice of departure weeks in advance and were required to…
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Your Voice Has Power
Keep it in the family. How many times did you hear “Keep it to yourself, no one needs to know what happened in the family”? So much happens within the family behind closed doors. Understandable that certain topics must remain confidential, but what happens when there is (physical, verbal, psychological, or sexual) abuse? What good does it do to keep it to ourselves simply because we want to avoid the criticism and judgement of others. I am not a psychologist or professional counselor, but I do know that any kind of abuse is traumatic and can develop feelings of distress, fear, insecurities and helplessness. We often hear about abuse happening…
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There is Purpose in Every Story
Soy ciudadana Americana por naturalización, Tejana de corazón, y Regia de nacimiento. I was born in Monterrey Nuevo Leon Mexico and raised in The Rio Grande Valley. When I first moved to the United States, I didn’t speak a word of English but interestingly enough the words “Hello” and “Thank You” became my favorite words. For a long time, I felt I was trapped between two worlds- kind of like the India María- ni de aquí ni de allá. Just like many others, I came as a child into the country illegally. I was told to always keep a low profile so I wouldn’t be noticed by the border patrol. …
