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My
name is Maria Fernanda Rodriguez, I am an International student
at Elmira
College. I was born in
Riberalta
Bolivia on November 30th 1983,
to Mercedes Urresti and Fernando Rodriguez. I have two sweet
and loving brothers, Christian Rodriguez who is 26 and already
a lawyer and Irving Alcaraz who is 14 and in the seventh grade.
For most of my school career I attended
Cochabamba Cooperative School
in
Cochabamba Bolivia, where I
was NHS (National Honor Society) president and the STUCO (Student
Council) representative of my class. I will attain my BA in
psychology at Elmira College June 4th 2006.
My
experience at Elmira College was positive for the most part.
Coming from a dependent culture to an independent culture meant
that I had to acculturate in order to “fit in”-
especially in a small college, where the student population
is predominantly Caucasian. I think that this process of acculturation
was the hardest to overcome. It took me some time to realize
that I didn’t have to change to “fit in” but
to expand my boundaries which were very set in the Bolivian
ways. Once I learned to be open to new ideologies I found myself
happy in the place I was without compromising who I was before.
Many of my close friends say that one of my best qualities is
that I have a big heart and that I am patient, but most of them
will also agree that I am very stubborn, and I have to agree,
I hardly ever take no for an answer (runs in the family I guess.)
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