Do you dream in Spanish?

Being the daughter of Mexican immigrants, my first language is Spanish.  While I think this is very common, I am continually amazed that other people are surprised by this fact.   Growing up in a non-English speaking home is nothing new to me, and probably nothing new to you.  However, it is unusual for most of the lawyers that I work with and for most of my clients and business colleagues.  Once their surprise has dissipated, many times the next question they ask me is "What language do you dream in?"  The first few times I had not idea how to answer this question- now, I am ready with my response- it depends, if I am speaking with relatives a generation older than I, it is in Spanish, with everybody else it is in English.

Why do I bring this up today?  Today I sat with a young lady and we worked on her law school personal statement.  As she was recounting her pre-college experiences, something prompted me to ask if her parents spoke English-- her response, is the same as mine, their English is very limited and her first language is Spanish.  When I asked her why she had not mentioned that in her personal statement,  she looked perplexed as if to say "It is not big deal, that is not unique."  When I shared with her that many of colleagues would be surprised, she could not believe it.

As children of immigrant parents we overcome unique challenges to make a better life for us and our families in this Country- one of them is learning a new language.  In this college/graduate school application season, do not consider any of the challenges that you have overcome as not worthy of mention.  Overcoming challenges, shows resilience, self-motivation and strength of character- all qualities that any academic institution would be lucky to have.

So...what language do you dream in?

Your Older Sis