Monica P

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Major: Speech Language and Hearing Sciences

Age: 20

Hometown: Scarsdale, New York
Parents' Home Country: Portugal

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"Since I am second-generation my family still has a very strong sense of Portuguese culture. It has shaped me to be the person that I am today. Between minor dialectal differences to my morals and values, it is definitely something very important in my life. I am very proud of my culture and the fact that I am able to hold dual-citizenship with the U.S. and Portugal is something I really value.

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I feel connected to my family’s culture. It was both chosen and brought upon me by family. I grew up speaking both Portuguese and English, however once I started elementary school I was having trouble code-switching so my teachers advised my parents to stick more to English. I grew up going to the Portuguese American Community Center in Yonkers, NY and consider the friends I made there family. However, recently it is more of a choice to stay connected to the culture. I have chosen to go to Portugal on my own for the past couple of summers to visit family and hopefully regain my fluidity of the language."

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