1 00:00:05,319 --> 00:00:07,089 My name is Samuel Canseco. 2 00:00:07,089 --> 00:00:09,860 I was born in sunny San Diego, California. 3 00:00:09,860 --> 00:00:12,900 And in my family, I am part of the first generation 4 00:00:12,900 --> 00:00:13,900 to go to college. 5 00:00:13,900 --> 00:00:16,180 My parents believed that in order to get a 6 00:00:16,180 --> 00:00:19,140 better life in this country, I had to attend college. 7 00:00:19,140 --> 00:00:21,630 Being a First Generation college student for 8 00:00:21,630 --> 00:00:22,630 me 9 00:00:22,630 --> 00:00:27,090 meant that I had to sit during my school conferences in order to translate for my parents. 10 00:00:27,090 --> 00:00:30,060 It meant that I had to wait to get picked 11 00:00:30,060 --> 00:00:32,960 up from elementary school at 5 PM every day 12 00:00:32,960 --> 00:00:34,720 because my parents worked until then. 13 00:00:34,720 --> 00:00:38,200 It meant that I had to landscape every Saturday 14 00:00:38,200 --> 00:00:41,250 and every summer with my father to earn a living. 15 00:00:41,250 --> 00:00:43,660 Neither one of my parents attended high school, 16 00:00:43,660 --> 00:00:45,570 but they wanted to make sure that 17 00:00:45,570 --> 00:00:49,690 their kids continue with their education, so that we didn't have to work under the hot 18 00:00:49,690 --> 00:00:50,739 sun like them. 19 00:00:50,739 --> 00:00:52,989 Despite my parents not being able to help 20 00:00:52,989 --> 00:00:54,930 me with my homework past fourth grade, 21 00:00:54,930 --> 00:00:57,129 they always supported me in every way that they could. 22 00:00:57,129 --> 00:00:59,920 I detested being picked up at school in the 23 00:00:59,920 --> 00:01:00,920 gardening pickup truck. 24 00:01:00,920 --> 00:01:02,789 I was embarrassed if people found out that 25 00:01:02,789 --> 00:01:05,282 I slept in a living room with my brother 26 00:01:05,282 --> 00:01:10,610 or that my dad was a gardener, and not a doctor or lawyer, like most of the parents of kids 27 00:01:10,610 --> 00:01:11,610 in my school. 28 00:01:11,610 --> 00:01:13,840 I was ashamed of my culture while being in 29 00:01:13,840 --> 00:01:16,600 a school where I was the only Hispanic in my grade. 30 00:01:16,600 --> 00:01:19,630 I started to drift away from regional Mexican 31 00:01:19,630 --> 00:01:20,630 music 32 00:01:20,630 --> 00:01:24,660 and attempted to fit in in my new high school as much as I could. 33 00:01:24,720 --> 00:01:26,299 I found myself wearing a mask-- 34 00:01:26,299 --> 00:01:28,780 a mask that was created in hopes to fit in, 35 00:01:28,780 --> 00:01:32,400 but rather than helping me, it was causing pain and self-hatred. 36 00:01:32,400 --> 00:01:34,670 I had become a completely different person 37 00:01:34,670 --> 00:01:35,970 while wearing my mask. 38 00:01:35,970 --> 00:01:37,240 I became a ghost. 39 00:01:37,240 --> 00:01:38,299 I was lost. 40 00:01:38,299 --> 00:01:41,110 Seeing my parents work endless hours under 41 00:01:41,110 --> 00:01:42,110 the sun 42 00:01:42,110 --> 00:01:44,890 in order for my brother and I to have what they once did not 43 00:01:44,890 --> 00:01:46,990 made me realise that being being ashamed of 44 00:01:46,990 --> 00:01:49,760 my parents' hard work was not the solution. 45 00:01:49,760 --> 00:01:52,380 It was time for me to remove my mask. 46 00:01:52,390 --> 00:01:55,049 I then returned to my true, rooted itself 47 00:01:55,049 --> 00:01:57,280 and continued to listen to my Spanish music. 48 00:01:57,280 --> 00:02:00,329 I began to be a chambelan at quinceañeras 49 00:02:00,329 --> 00:02:02,649 and wasn't afraid to show people of who I was. 50 00:02:02,649 --> 00:02:05,090 Being rooted to my culture brought me joy 51 00:02:05,090 --> 00:02:08,130 for the first time while being in a predominantly white school. 52 00:02:08,130 --> 00:02:11,000 So, I became a regional Mexican band singer 53 00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:12,730 and the Vice President of my school. 54 00:02:12,730 --> 00:02:15,520 Being rooted in my culture shifted self-hatred 55 00:02:15,520 --> 00:02:17,360 to joy and inspiration. 56 00:02:17,500 --> 00:02:20,560 In those roots, I found my true self, rooted. 57 00:02:20,560 --> 00:02:26,300 I am a successful, maskless, unashamed Mexican-American.