Wendy J. Rodriguez

Welcome to my website!

¡BIENVENIDO A MI PAGINA WEB!

Hometown

I call Covington, Georgia my home. I moved there when I was 7 years old. It might not be where I was born, but it is where all my best memories have happened and I will always have a special place in my heart for it. I cannot forget to mention my actually birthplace Miami, FL: where I learned how to swim like a "little fishie"or at least that's what my dad told me growing up.
"A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots."
Marcus Garvey

Heritage

We all seem to be defined by our physical appearances no matter where you go. It's our human instinct to want to categorize the things we see to better understand the world and what it holds. I'm one of those people that always gets asked, where are you from? My appearances can be deceiving. At times I look middle eastern and other I actually look hispanic. Growing up I never paid attention to my appearances and how it would later be questioned. I always knew I was simply Wendy and not the girl with the tan skin, high cheekbones, and dark brown hair.

"Maybe she is an international student?"
"Maybe she is Indian?"
"Maybe she is Mexican?"
"Maybe she's Maybelline...haha"

When I left my small hometown, Covington (where I never felt like an outsider even though I was one of maybe 5 hispanic students in my graduating high school class), I chose to pursue my Bachelor's of Science Degree at a college that would expose me to a variety of cultural diversity. In the Fall of 2013, I enrolled at Emory University where its diverse community opened up discussions associated to self-identity. Something I had never thought about.

Cultural Identity √

Nationality identity √
Religious Identity √

College really is a time to grow, find yourself and figure out who YOU really are regardless of what others may think of you. After two semesters of college and presently, I have been forced and pushed to figure out who I am. Thankfully, I am proud to say I North and South-American. I grew up with two different cultures in both parts of the Americas (Wow, am I from the 14th century?) : Southern United States and Colombian culture. Both of my parents were born in Bogota, Colombia and I was born in Miami, Florida. I have been able to experience two wonderful cultures that have shaped me into the person I am today. Truly, I have the best of both worlds. I get the most amazing BBQ as well as the best "Bandeja Paisa" you can imagine! I get to enjoy latin (ROMEO SANTOS...enough said) as well as Country (love me some Luke Bryan) music! The best part of it all is that I can speak two languages: English and Spanish. Being bilingual is a skill I cherish with all my heart, because I have ability to connect with and help twice as many people in my life.

Graduate

I graduated Eastside High School with honors and in the top 5 percentage of my graduating class.

College

I am proud to say I am a current student at Emory University. When I thought about college, it was something I was both excited to start my journey in achieving my career goal in becoming a pediatric neurologist and also saddened, because I would be leaving my family. But coming here has been such an intellectual journey and I love it! Thankfully, I get to see my family almost every weekend. I get both the college experience and also the closeness to my family.

Painting

It's one of my fondest hobbies. I love painting about current personal issues or things that I am passionate about learning. I've painted about mental disorders that ranged from schizophrenia to dyslexia. Click here to to view more of my paintings.

English 101: Living Multilingualism by Wendy J, Rodriguez is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
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