Making My Mother Proud
Beat
College I was born in Managua, Nicaragua. I
and after a while, I felt I was being punished. The
grew up in Nicaragua until I was seven
longer I lived with him - in our nest of hell - the
years old, which is when my family and
longer I thought that I got what I deserved.
I moved to the United States. My parents divorced
For years, I lived in silence. I didn’t want to
when I was 14, and as I became the child of a
break the façade that I had worked so hard for and,
single mother, I learned new lessons from the
more importantly, let my mother know I had failed
strongest person I know. Since I was 14, my mother
miserably. I learned that it’s not so easy to do well in
raised me to be a fighter, be proud of my birthplace
school if you can’t find peace in your life. After
and be proud of my identity as a woman.
fighting my way through my first year and managing
When I moved to Houston, TX, with my high
a 4.0 GPA, I failed my first semester of sophomore
school boyfriend, I was confident I was making
year. That winter break, I saw God when I logged into
the right choice for my education and my life.
his email and saw he had been kicked out of school.
Unfortunately for me, it was the start of a long road,
I made a decision that impacted my life. I left.
riddled with difficulties that eventually left me right
By mid-January, I was living with my parents
back where I started. Well, in a way.
again and enrolled at UTRGV. I found a job, and by
From the start, I knew I had to make
May, I made the President’s List at school. I returned
compromises. If I wanted to live my life with this boy
his car in June, and I got my own by September.
I adored, I was willing to live with the consequences.
A lot happened in such a short time, including
I wanted the best for both of us, and if that meant
the pandemic. I was heartbroken to start over. I was
that I had to be the good and the hard-working one,
saddened not to see my friends during the
then so be it. I was confident I could survive though,
pandemic. All in all, my experience made me
48 www.latinastyle.com LATINAStyle Vol. 27, No. 4, 2021 stronger, and now entering my senior year of
college, I could not be happier with my life and the
possibility that I have a long career ahead of me, one
my mother would be proud of and one to make all
her hard work pay off.
My mom graduated from Universidad Centro
Americana in Nicaragua and my dad went to a lot of
places, including Instituto Tecnológico de Monterrey.
My mom also graduated from UTPA back in 2012
with her master’s in Public Policy. My dad was
Ministro de Gobernacion in Nicaragua when I was
little, and he has always loved politics, and I am
pretty sure I got all of this from him. My mother is
brilliant and she works for the county.
I hope to graduate in December 2022 and
intern at a Congressman’s office for almost half a
year, after which I hope to go to law school in Fall
2023. I am also interning at the National Endowment
for the Humanities. LS
By Sofia Urcuyo
Major: Political Science
Minor: Gender Studies
University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV)
Sofia Urcuyo with her mom, Marianella
Canton.
Want to comment or have any questions on this
On March 6, 2020, Congressman Vicente Gonzalez (TX-15) hosted a press conference on the article? Email us at info@latinastyle.com
federal coronavirus (COVID-19) response efforts in the United States at UTRGV in Edinburg,
TX. (L-R) Sofia Urcuyo, Congressman Vicente Gonzalez (TX-15), and Jazmine Ortiz.