My name is Evelyn Chavez. I am 17 years old. I am, Latina, Hispanic, and Guatemalan. I call Fairmont home. I have lived in Fairmont for one year and two months. Home is a place where you can live and experience many things. I work at El Agave as a waitress.I go to Fairmont Jr./Sr. High School. It’s very beautiful, but different. I am fluent in Mam, and I am somewhat fluent in Spanish. I can also understand a little bit of English.
I like going to school, but my favorite part is the end of the school day. I think my favorite class is health because Mrs. Engelby is such a good person and friendly. In my free time, I like to listen to music and sing. My favorite artists are Angel FASTX or Jimin from BTS. I also enjoy going out on walks and meeting new people. I am passionate about making new friends. I like when friends talk to me and do fun things with me that we both enjoy.
My childhood was very fun and unforgettable. It was very beautiful. I don’t know if there are any similarities between Guatemala and Fairmont. In Guatemala, it’s different because I need to feed the animals. Education is also different because the people are very different in Guatemala compared to here. There is not very much education there. There aren’t really rules or very many laws in Guatemala compared to here. In my culture, everyone has the same rights like there are no differences between men and women. I haven’t experienced any racism or discrimination– in Guatemala or here.
In Guatemala, an important holiday is San Cristóbal y la Nochebuena (Christmas Eve). San Cristóbal es un día para celebrar July 27. We celebrate with parades, parties, and music. I like to celebrate Valentine’s Day here. Everyone is very happy to celebrate happy memories with their friends. Everyone gets gifts for each other!
In Guatemala, my favorite food is “chile chayote” which is like soup of ayote, in Guatemala. My favorite foods here are Korean pasta that I had in a restaurant in Minneapolis.
A challenge in my life is fear and embarrassment when other people look at me differently or discriminate against me for the color of my skin. People will tell me that I have very dark skin or a very round face. When I met other girls at school, I was able to overcome this challenge. The girls at school inspire me because they started to talk to me during summer school. They have given me confidence to start speaking with other people.
I have faith in God. My faith helps me remember that God always cares for us. I believe that everything will be okay. I’m not super religious, but I like to pray. I am Catholic. I like to read the Bible and different devotions on my phone.
My biggest values are kindness and honesty. I don’t like to hurt others or their feelings. I am a little proud. My proudest accomplishment is having the responsibility in my family. I always wanted to have a united family. Family has never failed. I have confidence that family will always come. I have family here. I only have cousins and one uncle who lives here. My parents and siblings live in Guatemala. I have two younger brothers and two younger sisters.
Success, to me, I think obtaining the things that I dreamed of or helping others achieve their own successes too! My personal goal is to be a nurse. I want to help people that need help. I also want to travel! I believe that I will return to Guatemala to visit.
My hopes for the community are that the people are grateful for what they have or that the community is united. I hope that people stop drinking and using drugs because many people don’t appreciate what they have. When they realize it, they are very late to understand the problem.