When she was younger, Sha’uri Sanchez struggled to balance her American identity with her Peruvian and Mexican ones. 

“My family from Peru or Mexico, they would judge me for being American,” Sanchez said. “Not in a mean way, but they would just make fun of the way I spoke Spanish or how I just didn’t know culturally as much as they did.”

Sanchez is a Hispanic and Latina first-year student at Drake University. While she currently lives in Omaha, Nebraska, her mother was born in Peru and immigrated to the United States around the age of 20. Sanchez’s father was born in Texas, so he has both American and Mexican heritage. 

Identity is a core value for Sanchez. She spent many of her teenage years seeking both the individuality and community that cultural identity brings. 

“It’s also been really hard finding out, when I was little, which [culture] I identified with most,” Sanchez said. 

Sanchez visited the Rainbow Mountain and Machu Picchu, two major geographic and historic landmarks in Peru, during the summer of 2025. And, for the first time in her life, she met her family members who live there. 

By the end of this trip, Sanchez said, she felt immensely connected to and empowered by the strength of her Peruvian ancestors.

“We [often] see the more sad faces of what happened to the native people that lived there, the Incans,” Sanchez said. “But, it was nice to see that their traditions are still happening and that a lot of these people are still continuing those traditions, especially after what happened to their brothers and sisters.”

Now, Sanchez realizes she doesn’t have to choose between Peru, Mexico and the United States. All three are part of her identity. 

Sanchez’s deep sense of connection to her roots has not taken away from the development of her personal identity.

“It’s nice seeing who I am culturally, but it’s also a humbling experience to know that being born here [in the U.S.] is a very big deal, and I’m very grateful for that,” Sanchez said. 

Sanchez said her high school experiences revealed the unfamiliarity and ignorance that surround her cultures. 

“The first thing is that everyone thinks I’m Mexican, which, yes, that’s half true, but not every Hispanic is Mexican,” Sanchez said. “Another thing, too: I say I’m Peruvian, and people are like ‘What is that?’ or like ‘Where is that?’ and it’s kind of funny at first.”

Sanchez tries not to let these comments bother her too much. She instead views them as an opportunity to educate and share her culture with the people around her. 

María José Del Valle Laureano, a first-year at Drake, also identifies with multiple cultures. Del Valle Laureano is from Puerto Rico. Her paternal grandfather is an immigrant from Argentina, and her maternal grandmother immigrated to Puerto Rico from the Dominican Republic. 

Del Valle Laureano’s father’s side of the family owns a Puerto Rican-based restaurant that incorporates both Argentinian and Puerto Rican culture.

“It’s really cool, seeing both sides of the family being basically different cultures, yet they’re both united by Puerto Rico — by looking at Puerto Rico as their home,” Del Valle Laureano said.

First-year Valeria Maldonado Alvarez is also from Puerto Rico. Her home, when not away at college, in Bayamón, an urban part of Puerto Rico. It was here that Maldonado Alvarez was born and raised. 

“I feel like [living in the city] makes my family different,” said Maldonado Alvarez. “Because most of my friends back home, their parents were born and raised in the metro area, and I can see the difference in community building.”

Living in two languages

Language can be a big part of culture. Growing up, Sanchez was exposed to both English and Spanish. 

“When we grew up, I would like to say my first language was English, like I grew up speaking English, but since my mom spoke Spanish to us, we understood a lot of what she was saying,” Sanchez said.

Mere exposure didn’t mean total language literacy. Because Sanchez didn’t speak Spanish back to her mom, it took her longer to learn. Sanchez picked up some of the language from her extended family, refining the rest in her high school Spanish classes. In these classes, she also learned how to write and read the language.

Del Valle Laureano grew up speaking Spanish, but she learned a lot of her English through TV shows and media. To her, there are different versions of Spanish. 

“It’s really different talking with other people that speak Spanish because they just don’t have the same vocabulary as you,” Del Valle Laureano said. “Most people here [in the United States], their parents are from Latin America, but they’re not, so they just learn a fake Spanish, in my opinion.”

Maldonado Alvarez also grew up speaking Spanish. In second grade, she went to a new bilingual school and started learning English. 

“Spanish is such an interesting, funny language,” Maldonado Alvarez said. “The jokes we say in Spanish, to me, it sounds funnier than jokes in English. I don’t know how to explain it. It’s just our slang.” 

Media as a mirror

Sanchez feels that her identity isn’t always represented well in the media. She says she feels satisfied with Mexican representation, but the same can’t be said for her Peruvian side.

“I do wish there was more Peruvian representation because there’s not a lot of us out there,” Sanchez said.

Maldonado Alvarez said Puerto Rican representation is often lacking, but has seen recent improvement.

“A lot of the time we’re pretty small, but I’d say Bad Bunny is our biggest figure right now,” Maldonado Alvarez said. “He’s taken over the world, and he always loves to take the message of, ‘my home is Puerto Rico, this is where I grew up, this is my land.’”

Strength in identity

Sanchez has experienced firsthand how barriers form between people of different cultural identities. This is a problem she partially attributes to the lack of diverse representation in today’s media. 

“Growing up in Nebraska, where there’s a lot of white people, I would get comments like ‘Oh, go immigrate back to your seat’ and stuff like that,” Sanchez said. 

Sanchez had to learn how to deal with discriminatory comments.

“[After moving from Texas, school in Nebraska] was definitely my first time experiencing something like that,” Sanchez said. “I didn’t take [those remarks] well at first, but as time grew on, my parents always just said that words are words, so I didn’t really pay any attention to it. Honestly, growing up now, no one really says that to me anymore, so I feel like that’s a really good thing.”

Sanchez eventually found comfort in her cultural identities because they form a strong foundation of who she is. 

Her religious identity contributes to her patience and kindness despite the insensitive comments. She also recognizes her parents’ hard work to create a good life for her.

“I’m really grateful for every opportunity [my parents have worked to give me],” Sanchez said. “I [also] am a Christian, so I also like to thank God for the experiences. Because while I was still growing up, it was nice that there was someone out there looking after me.”

Maldonado Alvarez tries to portray her favorite aspects of Puerto Rico in her demeanor every day. 

“I take a lot of pride in my people,” Maldonado Alvarez said. “I feel like we’re very warm and welcoming, and that’s something I hope to carry with me for a while.”

Del Valle Laureano wants to hold onto her roots while still becoming her own individual.

“I don’t want to be another number,” Del Valle Laureano said. “I want to be my own self and people to know me as me, not the Puerto Rican girl.”

Still, she wants to embody Puerto Rican culture in her character.

“I feel if I carry Puerto Rico, it’s in my personality,” Del Valle Laureano said. “It’s in my kindness, in me being genuine.”