On resilience, pride, and community

Editor’s Note: Alondra Vanessa Martinez Ordaz ‘26 recently won the grand prize in the Conexión Américas Orgullo Hispano essay contest. This year’s theme was “Nuestra Comunidad – Fuerte y Resiliente / (Our Community – Strong and Resilient).”

Resilience can be shown in a matter of ways. Resilience can be from reposting a story about the issues happening in our community to participating in a protest. The Latino community these past few months has been coming together and rallying with each other due to the events happening in the world right now. I show resilience through attending information meetings, organizing meetings to debrief situations, having open conversations, simply being aware of what’s going on and so much more.

Resilience is having the courage to get out of your comfort zone to make a difference. My friend Kimberly and I saw injustices occurring in our neighborhoods and knew we needed to bring awareness to it. The night before we had an assembly we both put a pause on our homework to begin researching evidence and typing up a script to read. We informed our Head of High School and Director of what we were planning on announcing and the resources we wanted to share. They helped us schedule the time when we could say it, but besides that they wanted us to be the ones leading the talk. I’m usually known to be quite shy and this was only my second year in this predominantly white private school so it was definitely scary to think that I would have to talk in front of the whole high school. Having the opportunity to advocate for my people and share ways people can help bring more awareness will always make me put being shy aside. Feeling outside your comfort zone is something that will come with advocating for change and attention to sensitive topics, but many other people have had to risk a lot more so I’m willing to risk numerous forms of comfort for the protection and rights of others. “There’s power in numbers” and if you want to see the numbers you have to be willing to reach out, to teach, and then ask for help. 

As I said before, I go to a predominantly white school, so not many students in my class look like me or live similar lives as me. This leads to the issue of them not being aware of the issues in my community to the full extent, of course they can learn so much from news but experiencing it first hand is completely different. I have the opportunity to attend this school; because of all the hard work I put in I was awarded a scholarship to study at this school, so I am always looking for ways to use the resources not many have to bring awareness and make change. I have taken the opportunity to be the leader of an affinity group at my school. An affinity group is a group in which students that share something in common can have a safe space to talk and bring up subjects they don’t feel comfortable with telling others that don’t resemble their lives. My co-leaders and I decided to host a meeting for people to voice their opinions on the matter. Usually these meetings are reserved for members that identify themselves as Latino or Hispanic but we decided that opening it up to the whole school would be best. Not only did we want a wide variety of opinions but we also wanted to educate those that had questions about issues occurring. It’s not only important that we take action but having the opportunity to spread knowledge to those willing to learn is very helpful and such a powerful resource. I want people to learn about what’s happening especially directly from the people that are being affected as it is more powerful. Overall, the meeting was quite helpful because many students brought many good resources and local issues that some people weren’t aware of. It brought together a lot of people that wanted justice and to make a change for the same cause and allowed a path for a bigger conversation moving forward. To be able to have this type of understanding and openness from the community shows how we can tackle these obstacles together as a community if we are willing to listen. 

The final form of resilience which I believe is the most impactful is having pride. Some of the issues that are occurring at the moment have the goal to paint a negative image of our culture. We can’t let this contort what we know to be our traditions and blood. I am fully aware of who I am, the role my Mexican heritage plays in that, it gives me strength and such a beautiful perspective of life. I confidently and proudly wear my Mexico jersey, traditional clothing, jewelry, brown skin and everything people may associate with being Mexican. I help organize events during Hispanic Heritage Month and participate whenever I can to share my culture. Me showing pride in my culture gives the statement of “We’re here, we know who we are, and we’re here to stay”  to those trying to cause strain and tension between us.

People don’t always show resilience the same way but the message being delivered is always very impactful. I will keep showing resilience for the topics and people I believe in, with the support I receive as well as continue to grow with others. This is who I am and I will keep standing up for it until my voice, the voices of the impacted, and the voices of those who risked everything for us to be here today are heard.