THE EVERETT ADVOCATE – FRiDAy, MAy 16, 2025 Page 11 HONORABLE MENTION: Trabaja Duro (Work Hard); Everett Entry in ILC Essay Contest By Katerin C. Everett High School W hy do immigrants leave behind their homes? The war that’s brewing in their country? The poverty? The failed education system? The hopes the Statue of Liberty brings? My parents left El Salvador to have something more for themselves. On their backs through deserts and rainforests, they carried their Catholic religion, their hopes of being successful and their motivation to live a life without showering in lakes and sleeping cramped in a room with 12 siblings. They had 5 kids–all girls; one in college majoring in dental, another almost 13 in the constant attitude phase, one who loved Spiderman and Stitch, one who prompts mini heart attacks from a love of climbing everything, and one writing this essay on the impact of immigrants to our society. What does a hammock look like to you? I’m assuming it’s something modern and expensive material, sold on Amazon. My hamaca all the colors you could think of, handwoven by the veiny freckled hands of my grandmother. Whenever anyone in my family visits our country, they always bring back a hamaca – it’s more than just a place to take the best nap ever. It’s a reminder of how far we’ve come. On every trip to the lake we’ve ever taken, we always brought a hamaca. The first thing my dad would do was tie the knots he learned to tie from his father. If that was being used, we would lay a towel on the bare ground and let the sun dry us up. Looking around, I’d see American families with a whole crib out on the sand for their babies. We had our hamaca. It may not be as sturdy but it brings us a sense of our home. I believe many Hispanic immigrants find comfort when they go to the lakes. It’s a place where they reminisce about their homeland. My parent’s migration to America has brought me the best of both worlds. I live in the typical Hispanic household but with typical American traditions. Sometimes they even say I’m whitewashed since over the years I have begun to lose my Spanish and my appetite for frijoles. But I will always choose a hamaca over an American beach chair. My family embraces many different cultures. At our birthday parties, there is agua fresca de fruta with mango, strawberry, apples, and melon. There is Portuguese chicken that would be left with clean bones. Have you realized how you’ll occasionally pass by a small hidden market that sells Hispanic ingredients? It would be named Los Primos or Supermercado Latino. There are thousands of stores in the world that bring their cultural food that becomes a feeling of home to immigrants or it becomes a bridge to the community between other Americans. We are all connected by an invisible string and we don’t even realize it. What makes America special is that in every turn you take, you’ll see a market selling foods from a different culture. If you love spice and you need some good peppers and spices, go to a Mexican market. The beauty is that you’ll find whatever you need. HONORABLE MENTION | SEE PAGE 13
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