CAROLINA

I’m an LGBTQ Latina living in Alberta and I majored in Commerce with a concentration in Finance. What I loved about my degree was that I really enjoyed what I was learning and I am very passionate about it. What I disliked was that I felt like an outsider/impostor. Mainly because I didn’t feel like I was good enough in what I was doing & I always got the impression that my classmates were following a playbook I had completely missed out on. There were certain things that I learnt later in my degree that I needed to do to succeed i.e. extracurriculars, internships, that they knew about and did on their first year.  

Fortunately, I haven’t faced (or noticed much) discrimination towards me. However, the few that I’ve faced came from my own family and from an ex-significant other. Being from South America, my siblings and I were raised Catholic and our family, although not deeply religious, adhered to the core fundamental belief that a family and marriage is between a man and a woman. When I came out almost three years ago, my family, although supportive, had their hesitations. My parents asked me to not post anything on social media about my relationships as well as to not to come out to my extended family. Currently, it seems like they have reconciled with the fact that I am dating women and have even gone as far as to meeting my current significant other and invited her to family dinners and hikes.  

As for the time with my ex-significant other, she was born and raised in Calgary and she couldn’t understand why it was so important to me for her to have a good relationship with my family, and why moving in with her -before this happened-  caused me a lot of grief – back home, family and community is everything to us, and if your family didn’t like your significant other… that’s looking for trouble –  We would have fights about that all the time and she wouldn’t even try to see my point of view. She kept saying that we should adapt to Canadian values now that we’re in Canada.  

I feel like the fact that I’m “light skinned” and I don’t look like a stereotypical lesbian has given me the privilege of educating myself about racism and homophobia rather than experiencing it. There are a few times far and between where I’ve gotten a “look” for speaking in Spanish or holding my girlfriend’s hand in public but it doesn’t compare to what other people experience on a day to day basis. 

The added stress and distraction of having to deal with constant issues in my close relationships on top of an academic load and work was at times overwhelming. On top of it all, I was struggling with my identity and figuring out what kind of person I wanted to become.   

I would tell my younger self: Figure out what you want. Make a list of what you think you need to get it. Go to career services and asked them for help when making your schedule and ask them how to beef up your resume so that it's easier to get internships. 

Everybody has a unique set of characteristics, whether it be from their cultural background, education etc that will shape them and make them act the way they are and not everybody will adhere to “Canadian norms”. By educating themselves and experiencing different cultures, students will be more aware of this and will be better equipped to deal with differences in the real world. 

“I am mine before anyone else’s”