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Birthday
I was born at 2:17 on the morning of July 19th, 1994 to my mother and father, Tina and Joe Colvin. I was their first child so I definitely changed their lives, but the fact that I was conceived out of wedlock changed the way our family was made up. No one in our family had ever had a child out of wedlock, so even though my family wasn't religious, I still came as a shock to everyone. -
"Yes sir, no sir"
When I was just learning to talk, one of the first things my father made me learn were "yes sir" and "no sir" (along with the 'ma'am's, of course). Respect for your elders was (and still is) one of the most important things about our culture that my father drilled into my head as a child. To this day, if someone older than me asks a question, I answer with "yes sir" or " yes ma'am", so it's truly affected how I perceive elders in my culture. -
The Divorce
6 months after my sister was born, my parents filed for divorce. They had only gotten married because I was an unplanned pregnancy, so it wasn't really a huge surprise to anyone. This was so significant because it completely changed the dynamic of our family. My mom left to live with her parents while my sister and I stayed with our dad, so we only saw her every few weeks or so. Even though I was so young, I still remember how much our lives changed after that. -
Ms. Tammie
Not long after my parents got divorced, my dad met Ms. Tammie. They started dating and eventually she moved in with us. She grew up in a traditional German household in Fredericksburg, Texas, so she brought her German heritage with her when she moved in. We learned about different German foods, met her mom and dad (now our Oma and Opa), and had the German Christmas Pyramid up during the holidays. Being only 6 years old, this was a bit of a shock, but a real learning experience. -
Barrel Racing
As far back as I can remember, my Grandma would always talk about barrel racing. She was a State Champion in Oklahoma in the 1950s, and she absolutely loved horses. My family would go to any rodeo within a 100-mile radius just to watch the barrel racers because we both loved them so much. Growing up around horses and rodeos shaped my culture because those cowboys have their own culture of a love for animals, which you could see in the way they looked at and took care of their animals. -
The Tip
When I was 6 years old, my Grandma took me out to eat at a Mexican restaurant. On the way out, I noticed that she had left some money on the table (I didn't know what tipping was at that age) so I gave it back to her in the car. She got more angry than she ever had before and spanked me right then and there (which she had never done). That was our first indication that something was wrong, but my family never talked about it. I was never allowed to go out with Grandma alone after that. -
Alfredo
In 2001, my mom moved 3 hours away to Abilene, Texas, where she met Alfredo. They ended up dating for about 10 years, and in that time I learned a lot about his Native American Heritage. He grew up in a traditional Native American household where dream-catchers hung above everyone's bed, he maintained his long, black hair, and there were religious painting of wolves on the wall. This shaped how I perceived that culture because I had never really learned about their heritage before I met him. -
Alzheimer's
It didn't take long after the tipping incident for my parents to realize what was wrong with Grandma. She started wandering off in the middle of the day and forgetting where she was while driving to the Post Office. It took a while for my dad to accept it, but he ended up taking her to a nursing home. After that, he shut down anytime she was brought up because it was too difficult for him to talk about. That was my first indication of how people in my family coped with any kind of loss. -
Scottish Family Tree
After my dad put Grandma in the nursing home, the only difference we saw in him (other than being stoic whenever she was brought up) was that he wanted to learn more about our heritage. He had a family tree made which showed that the majority of his side of the family came from Scotland. He also found out that one of our cousins actually competes in the American Highland Games. I loved learning about our heritage, and seeing my 40 year old cousin in a kilt was hilarious to 9-year-old me. -
Mom's Side vs. Dad's Side
My mother's side of the family was always more expressive with their feelings compared to my father's side. During the holidays, everyone on my mom's side of the family got together as a large group and exchanged presents, ate a huge dinner, and sat around talking for hours on end. On my dad's side, we woke up early, opened our presents, ate a small meal, and then stayed in our individual rooms to go through our new items. Even though these customs were so different, I loved them both the same. -
New Beginnings Church
My first boyfriend's name was Garrett, and he grew up in a traditional Baptist household. About 2 months into dating, he asked me to go to church with him, to which I agreed. My mom's side of the family went to a Baptist church now and then, but never really kept to it. I started going to this church with him every Wednesday, and it was the greatest decision I ever made. I found my faith and it changed me in ways I couldn't imagine and influenced how I lived my life more than anything had before -
SSG Menchaca
In 2010, my uncle, a Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Army, shipped off to Afghanistan to fight in the war. It was during this time that my family and I turned to our faith more than we ever had before. They started going with me to church twice a week and the entire church said a prayer for him after every sermon. It was very emotional for my entire family whenever he left, and the fact that we leaned on our Baptist culture in that time definitely reinforced my faith and what I believed in. -
Goodbye
On October 18th, 2011, my grandmother passed away at the age of 79. It was the hardest thing I'd ever had to go through, but it was more difficult for my father. My Grandma and I were inseparable until I was 5 years old, but after that I never saw her much. My dad very rarely showed emotion, and even in this time of grief, he sat there with a straight face as tears ran down his cheeks. His stoic attitude about it changed how I perceived loss in our family and shaped how I grieve today. -
Roomies
I grew up in a small town in central Texas with a population under 2,000. I graduated with 86 people in my class who were predominantly white, with a few Hispanics and one African American. I was friends with everyone, but I never really spent any time with other cultures, so when I started at ASU, I made my first true Hispanic friend. She was my assigned roommate, and her name was Gabriella. I learned a lot about both this Hispanic and Catholic heritage from her, and I loved every bit of it. -
New Friends, New Cultures
During my Freshman year at ASU, I made another close friend of a culture different from my own. While playing volleyball, I met Jeremy, a Honduran-American who is still a great friend of mine. I had never met anyone from Honduras, and it was really enlightening to learn how his family came to America and how his heritage differs from my own. -
Texas Meets New York
After graduating with a BBA in marketing from ASU, I moved to Austin, Texas. It was there that I met my soon-to-be roommate, Zoe; she was from New York and we were the polar opposites of each other. She never let people pass her on the road, she turned up her nose at every "New York-style" pizza place, and pronounced "sausage" like "sousage". It was a bit of a culture shock moving in with someone from so far away, but it was nice to get a taste of what the rest of the country was like.
