A Letter to Gabriel Reyes

Asked and Answered

Q: What do I have to do to be accepted as a Latino?

A: You don't get to be anything because of your skin color. You get to be something because of what you know and what you do. It sounds to me that you have decided to be what other people are telling you to be, and that's a shame. You need to stand up and be who you want to be; your destiny is in your hands.

Imagine that you decided to track down all of your family members. You're still going to have to sit down and learn what they tell you. That means you have to study. So study. Do you think you get to play football without study? Do you think you get to play guitar without study?

'Being a Latino' means what you think it means. Write 500 words on what you think that means. Then go hang out with the people you think are like that. Find a way to ask them each of those things. People are not as 'Latino' as you think they are, and half of people your age are just faking to be accepted. You'll get over it in two years. I guarantee.

Go to Google Images and search on your own name 'Gabriel Reyes'. I think you'll be surprised at who you find. Try to guess where they're from and what they do. You can't.

I know it probably sounds harsh, but most adults don't take kids seriously because kids can't figure out basic things like who they want to be. That's ok. Everybody gets through it. Promise yourself that you're going to be alright and that you are going to heal all of your wounds. Adults know because we've done all the crying. You will get through the pain, and you will cry less and less.

Sometimes you have to accept that the people around you are just too small-minded to comprehend your soul. That's no reason to squeeze your soul into a little box that they can understand. Find a way to give your heart and mind and soul room to run free, then you will see that you are bigger than all those people who are too insecure to accept you for who you are, and for what you want to do in this world.