I am Rita Moreno. I was only a mere child when I had to move from Puerto Rico. My mother decided to move her and me off the Island because she wanted a better life for me however, we had to leave my little brother back in Puerto Rico. I was saddened by this for a long time but I had no time to worry about being away from my little brother.

There was money to be made to keep my mother and me afloat so when I turned 11 I had my first job as a translator for movies because I spoke fluent Spanish. 2 years later I had my Broadway debut. I played “Angelina” in the movie “Skydrift”. I was the happiest little girl in the world. I was attracting all kinds of Hollywood offers and deals with big-time directors. Life wasn’t always the easiest after this though.

As I grew older I started to realize more and more of how unfairly my people were being treated and how bad racism was with African Americans as well. Hollywood wasn’t my favorite environment to be around because I was sexually harassed by the men around me but, I never let my surroundings break me down. I fought against these social injustices and persevered through all the hatred. I persevered and did what I do most beautifully acting.

In the year 1962, I poured my heart into a film named “West Side Story”. The film was inspired by Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”. I was a side character named “Anita”. I worked myself to the bone on this film. I had to deal with very emotionally difficult scenes, complex choreography, and a substance that felt like mud on my skin. The emotional scenes came from the script. The complex choreography came from the movie also being a musical. I had to wear the mud-like substance because I wasn’t the color the director wanted me to be. I was very hurt by this because I was changing something that wasn’t supposed to be changed. The movie was rather tough on me mentally and physically but I persevered. Once we finished working on the movie I was very happy with how it turned out it was a magical experience. Due to my ability to persevere and work through the movie I was able to win an Oscar for being the best supporting character for the year 1962.

This is the story of how perseverance allowed a little girl from an island to become a very successful woman doing what she loves for a living. I am Rita Moreno and I persevere.