This Thanksgiving, Her Campus Rutgers asks us to share what we are thankful for and who we want to thank. When I reflect on the events of my life, I have so many people to thank. I am thankful for everyone who has entered or exited my life because I have learned valuable lessons from each and every one of them. I have come to discover that we can learn something from everyone who crosses our paths if we think deeply enough about their purpose and contribution. The people in our lives shape who we are through their guidance, knowledge, comfort, and compassion. I have had the great fortune to be surrounded by wonderful and intelligent human beings who value the importance of empowering women, helping those in need, and seek to create a better humanity for all of us.
I would like to start off by thanking my parents. I would like to acknowledge the immense impact the sacrifices both my parents have made in order to ensure my siblings and I were well fed, loved, housed, supported and educated. They have taught me you do not need to grow up with a lot in order to have a full life. I thank them for doing a beautiful job of raising my siblings and I in such a way that we only have wonderful memories to reflect on our childhood, receiving the attention, care and happiness every child deserves for proper growth and development. Despite growing up in third world and Hispanic nations along with the hindrance of not understanding any language other than Spanish, both of them learned how to speak fluent English. They graduated from college with Accounting degrees, purchased a home, and worked relentlessly to guarantee my siblings and I never spent a day hungry. They have provided us with everything a child needs to grow into themselves proudly, happily and whole-heartedly.
I thank my mother for being a tremendous influence, role-model, care-giver and educator. My mother is the reason I believe in being independent and strong. Because of her I am determined to show the world the immense power educated, articulate, and graceful women have. She has taught me how to fall in love with books and move past any difficult situation with resilience, grace and more strength than before. She has taught me how to take care of and look out for myself, work diligently, and strengthen my perception and mentality so that I am capable of finding the good and positive in everyone and everything.
I thank my father for stressing the importance of an investment in education. I thank him for being at every game, concert, competition, and event of my childhood. He never missed an opportunity to watch, cheer and support my siblings in everything we chose to do. My father is the type of person to be there for you in a second if you need help or are in need of safety. My father taught me how to enjoy the beats of music, the wind coming from the roof of a Jeep that makes your hair fly everywhere, and the joy that comes from dancing in every situation. I am fortunate his goal and pride came from watching my siblings and I grow.
I thank my siblings for growing into this world and sharing so many experiences with me. I thank them for laughing with me on our family vacations – all across the world. I thank my sister for being the confident and strong-willed person that she is. I thank my brother for being so inadvertently comedic and care-free.
I thank my friends – both those at home and right here at Rutgers. To my friends at home, thank you for growing with me during our adolescent years. With you, I have not only learned about the joys of life but the importance of maintaining the connection, safety, and kindness anyone needs to obtain throughout their high school years. Wherever school or life may take you, I am always just a phone call away.
To my friends at Rutgers and the women whom I have had the great privilege to do community service and partake in small acts of kindness with, I thank you for allowing me to continue to give back to the community. I am honored to spend my college years surrounded by women who hold tremendously beautiful moral standards and full hearts. I thank the women who join me in hospital visits, play soccer with special needs kids, distribute food to local food pantries, and set up beds and shelter for the homeless population of New Brunswick when the weather is too insufferable to bear. Your service does not go unnoticed.
I want to thank the educators who have helped shape my aspirations and career goals. To the professors who have guided me throughout these transformational years, your knowledge ignites a light that is the power of education. College is where I have learned how much I truly do love learning new things and making an impact that goes far beyond myself. To the Journalism professors who have worked diligently in this field, your insights make a difference to students who want to follow in your footsteps.
Thank you to the Feminists who are defying the social constructions of gender. Thank you to the women in my classes who discuss intersectionality, understand gender as an analytical concept, and work to reform the oppressive narrative that women hold no power. Thank you for being brave enough to speak out and deconstruct the normative concepts that trap women economically, socially, politically, and mentally. We are making a change. Lastly, thank you to the readers of Her Campus magazine. It is because of you, that publications and women’s empowerment like this are possible.
Take the time to thank the people in your lives as well, and don’t let your appreciation for them go unnoticed.
I wish you all a safe and Happy Thanksgiving.
Xo,
J