From my own personal experience I have found that immigrants from Latin America, in fact the world, are often categorized to certain stereotypes.

Moreover some of these stereotypes actually have accurate foundations, but ultimately stereotypes are continuously being proven wrong by those who work hard and in turn succeed against all adversity.
Now the reason why stereotypes exist is because there are common characteristics associated to certain groups who display similar tendencies; however it is important to realize that these tendencies do not define an individual.
I strongly believe that the only true difference among all people is the level of education and motivation they possess.
Stereotypes exist everywhere whether we look for them or not. As a graduating senior finishing my last semester in college I have noticed that over the last four years every student and person alike does the same thing when they arrive to their college or university, size up the competition and find their place among them.
This is especially true when entering college because almost all the relationships you decide to build from that point on begin with you meeting a complete stranger and trying to construct an image that depicts in essence who you are and where you want to be. This can be readily seen when people decide to join a fraternity, intramural sports team or find a group of friends to eat within the residence halls the first week school.
The key is to overlook any negative contemplation and realize that stereotypes many times help us grow and mature in college by allowing us to define people before we meet them.
Stereotypes define the world we see without really exploring more than what we have been exposed to, and for people of Latin American decent I have found that more often than not we are underestimated.
Unfortunately because of the reputation of many undeveloped, corrupt Latin American Countries people have a tendency to think we will agree to lower wages than other groups. It is a stereotype that every year millions of Latino and students have to face, especially in college.
Nevertheless I have found that many of my Latino friends in college come from very different backgrounds. For example I have a couple friends who originate from very wealthy families who are well educated while other friends of mine come from families who are also extremely smart but live pay check to pay check in order to pay for college, books and other materials each semester.
During my junior year I remember running into one of my freshmen roommates who is Caucasian, part of the honors college and from my recollection very personable.
To make a long story short we ended up talking about what we were up to and how things were going for us at that time which led our conversation to the subject of summer internships. He told me about how he was going pre-med and I then shared with him who I was interviewing with for a summer internship on Wall Street.
He congratulated me for being close listed, but then to my surprise he preceded to say that in all honesty he believed that I had no chance in getting the position.
That it was an admirable move but one of his close friends applied for the same job and didn’t get it. And seeing how he believed his friend was much smarter than me, he suggested that because of the competitiveness of the job that I should not even try.
I remember standing there in shock and partly enraged at what I was hearing but instead of blowing up all I remember thinking is not understanding what kind of logic he was using or why he was telling me what I am and am not capable of doing.

Experiences like these still sometimes make for frustrating days but thankfully more often than not I use these experiences to my advantage. Because of stereotypes I push myself to work harder because I was told that I don’t deserve or can’t achieve the kind of things I want. In my opinion being underestimated is only harmful to those who believe in it.

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You made some good points there. I did a search on the topic and found most people will agree with your blog.

John, Congrats on your accomplishments. That´s really great.

As far as advice what I have found useful is first realizing that there´s always going to be obstacles and challenges such as stereotypes. I would just recommend that you keep doing what you´re doing right now, putting yourself out there as much as you can (clubs, after school events, other organizations) so that you come across more chance opportunities.

Show that you´re focused on improving things. People usually fall into one of two categories: those who follow and/or dragged along and those who really genuinely want to make improvements and are accepting of making progress (unfortunately not as many people are comfortable with this.) I often set concrete/obtainable goals like working out 3 times a week, much reading of papers, books, reports, finance websites, etc and make sure to do everything one can to at least meet or exceed those goals.

There´s a wealth of information out there and its burgeoning every day. Just keep at it.

Currently I am an active member and position holder in several organizations, such as; the president of the Ross Undergraduate Hispanic and Latin Society, colony founder and past treasurer of Delta Tau Delta Fraternity, Fellowship Chair of Delta Sigma Pi Professional Fraternity, undergraduate research student for the Institute for Research on Labor, Employment and the Economy and one of thirty nine students from the University of Michigan selected to be part of the Sports Marketing Internship Program.
Furthermore this past summer I had the opportunity to work as a summer analyst with the Market Risk Management and Analysis business function at Goldman, Sachs & CO.
Ultimately I have learned that these opportunities and experiences have not only equipped me with a base of professional education, such as business electives and experimental learning. But, have allowed me to become both socially and professionally enriched as a person.
My task now is to share with you how I came to be on the path, which I have chosen, towards a successful career.
The path I speak of consist of getting to college, becoming an active member in an organization, finding internships and ultimately a job that will hopefully continue to be intellectually challenging.

I will be sharing my experiences, suggestions, and what you may expect at the different stages of this path. Thank you for reading my entries in advance and please feel free to contact me via e-mail if you may have any specific questions or concerns.

Best Regards

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Note to John from LA (Dominican)
People do not validate you and you can not limit yourself based on other's insecurities. Educate yourself, reach out to those who see beyond stereotypes or those who have other broken barriers. Seek out mentors and participate in student organizations. There are many organizations that need intelligent people just like you - regardless or your skin color or country of origin. But PLEASE whatever you do, DO NOT LIMIT yourself based on others opinions.

I had many bad experiences with discrimination because i´m a black dominican living in LA and many people don´t get it that i also speak spanish. I think many teachers think I don´t have much future in college and i should go to technical school. But i know that even when i am not the best student i have a descent 3.0 gpa and I can aspire to more. Any ideas on how to deal with this stereotype?

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