Student finalists honored in Conexión Americas essay contest
by Jeff Edmonds, academic dean
Yamilet Ortiz '20 and Yenni Gonzales-Salinas '21 earn accolades for their essays on their Hispanic heritage and lives in America.
Yamilet Ortiz '20 and Yenni Gonzales-Salinas '21 earn accolades for their essays on their Hispanic heritage and lives in America.
High School students Yamilet Ortiz '20 and Yenni Gonzales-Salinas '21 were honored at the Conexión Americas celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month on Thursday, Oct. 19. Conexión Americas invited students across Nashville to submit essays on the theme “My Hispanic Roots, My American Dream.” Yamiet and Yenni were two of six finalists chosen from all of the essays submitted, and each of them won $100. Finalists will also have their essays published in The Tennessean.
Yamilet’s essay spoke of how she has struggled with being labeled as Hispanic:
“The first existential crisis I remember, the kind where you get all fidgety and nervous and you can hear your heart’s pulse through your ears, happened to me unexpectedly; I was eight. I never imagined that standardized testing could make me question my identity so much (or maybe it was the pre-test jitters getting to me). While filling out the personal information sheet, I was bemused by the overwhelming amounts of the different options of races to choose from. I thought, ‘How am I supposed to choose? What do I qualify as? ¿Quíen soy?’ Heavily and neatly, with my #2 pencil, I filled in the bubble labeled ‘Hispanic,’ and that’s what I’ve been identifying myself as for the past 7 years of my life.”
Yenni’s work creatively mixes Spanish and English, reflecting her bi-cultural life:
“I come from what I call el barrio, where everyone knows each other yet we can not trust each other, and it motivates me to study harder every single day to give my family a better life. I come from the beautiful mariachi melody that makes me realize, I have goals and the time never stops running neither does the world stop turning, so I really should never stop trying. I am from, No puedes empezar desde arriba, siempre vas a empezar desde abajo y irte para arriba, y si te caes te tienes que levantar porque y si enverdad mente quieres algo vas a luchar hasta conseguirlo because life has taught me that the roses come with thorns.”
Congratulations, Yamilet and Yenni!
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2000 Edgehill Ave.
Nashville, TN 37212
Phone: 615-321-8000
Fax: 615-321-0889
Email: info@usn.org
River Campus
1200 County Hospital Road
Nashville, TN 37218
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University School of Nashville models the best educational practices. In an environment that represents the cultural and ethnic composition of Metropolitan Nashville, USN fosters each student’s intellectual, artistic, and athletic potential, valuing and inspiring integrity, creative expression, a love of learning, and the pursuit of excellence.
University School of Nashville models the best educational practices. In an environment that represents the cultural and ethnic composition of Metropolitan Nashville, USN fosters each student’s intellectual, artistic, and athletic potential, valuing and inspiring integrity, creative expression, a love of learning, and the pursuit of excellence.