On the 25th of September at the Cypress Creek Highschool Campus I had the opportunity to capture a photo that represents part of the Hispanic community at our school. This picture did not just show a flag, but a story behind it and the many things it could represent. Many of the Puerto Rican kids I was able to interview all had a similar story on how they felt acknowledged. Even though it was just a flag it means a lot to all of them; it makes them feel important to a cause and heard when it comes to the school promoting their flags, countries, beliefs and cultures. 

Many of these students felt inspired since they were being understood for how they are, their cultural beliefs, the sayings each one of them has and the activities they participate in. All the students were Puerto Rican. The first student I interviewed was Denniel Gutierrez from Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. He explained it wasn’t easy to get used to the language or moving so quickly out of his home island to another state. He was able to express his feelings to me and tell me the difficulties he had with the language, but after he got used to it, he was able to meet new people and make new friends. 

He stated, “When I moved here I thought it would be difficult to make friends but I stand corrected.” 

The other two Puerto Rican students were Edil Bosquez and Lyanna De Santis. Edil told me his life was easy for him. He was young when he arrived at the United States, and he said it felt easy making friends. However, the longer he stayed in the US, the more he missed his family, and the more he felt like going back. 

After staying here for so long and being able to have a nice life in the U.S., he stated “missing my island was a challenge, but being able to learn about the new things here, I’d rather stay and learn new things here.”  

My final interviewee shared with me somewhat of a similar story as Edil did. Lyanna De Santis from Carolina, Puerto Rico came to the U.S. at 6 years old. She was able to vent to me and tell me her life wasn’t as easy moving to the US at such a young age. She didn’t know how to communicate with anyone, which made it difficult to make any new friends. I was able to hear her story and as she was saying something she said stuck with me. 

“The people I’ve met have been good friends and I’ve definitely learned a lot with you guys.” As we can see she has not just learned but flourished in our Cypress Creek community.