Magaly Villa Reyes talks about her personal experience of writing her college essay. She sets a gripping scene by describing the scene where her teacher is about to call her out to critique her essay. The concentration of the minute details engage the reader to anticipate what comes next. Magaly, the author, uses various rhetorical strategies to emotionally invest the readers in her writing.
Walking up to her teachers table, Magaly feared what she was about to hear, all sorts of questions ran through her mind. What if she did not like her essay?, what if it wasn’t up to the teachers standards? Anxious to hear what her teacher had to say, Magaly quickly took a seat and rested her hand on her face. As she settled down, her teacher skimmed over her essay and began giving her feedback. “I think you need to change the prompt you used,” hearing that as the first feedback, Magaly began pressing her thumb into her cheek. “What did she mean it had to be changed?” Wasn’t her essay good enough? Did that mean that no colleges would accept her?” A plethora of negative questions ran through her mind. The thumb that was pressing into her cheek, was now putting enough pressure to leave a mark on her face, while her leg continued shaking steadily due to her anxiety about the comments.
Similar to many other high school students, Magaly too, had begun the process of writing her college application at the end of her junior year. She had spent hours thinking about a moment in her life that she could write about for her essay. At the young age of 15-16 she did not feel as if she had a moment that was important enough for her to write about and did want a disturbing experience to be her defining moment. In her interview with me she “ I did not really want to do, like a traumatic event for my essay one because I don’t think I had any traumatic event, where like Oh my Gosh, like where I lost this friend or I lost my dad or my mom I didn’t really have anything to write about.”
Additionally, with her home-life being mostly in Spanish, Magaly was not completely able to express herself in English, as she did in Spanish. “My mom, in the house, only spoke Spanish, while my older siblings spoke Spanish and English but it was mostly Spanish because my mom did not know English.” Magaly’s bilingual experience is something that many first generation, or emigrated students with bilingual parents understand. The struggle to completely understand two languages simultaneously while not having the same amount of support for both is extremely demanding, especially for a young-developing child.
Some bilingual students may have a jolting experience as they learn that they are unable to express themselves in a certain language. This often happens when students belong to a monolingual household, and get lingual support in only one language. This results in a misconception that they are able to express themselves fluently in both languages, however they have proficiency mainly in their household language. While they may have struggled to be as expressive in the other language throughout due to not having the same support.
Throughout her narrative, Magaly continues to write about the emotional journey of writing her college application essay through reasoning and describing her journey with becoming comfortable with her bilingual self.
“Desde mis pies hasta mi cabeza todo lo que mi lengua sabía era espanol, to be able to express and fully appreciate me” The phrase translates to “From my head to my toes all my tongue has even known is Spanish, to be able to express and fully appreciate me” (translation provided by Magaly)
Interweaving such phrases in Spanish throughout the essay convey her comfort not only in the language but also showcase the extent of her creativity in it. She describes Spanish as, “mi casa, mi refugio,” which translates to “Spanish, my house, my refuge.”
The emotion heavy narratives emotions are clear once again, as Magaly Spanish phrases are more artistic and eloquent, even after translationing it into English. They are extremely touching, conveying immense emotion and creativity. She understands the importance of having knowledge about her culture and appreciates it. In an interview with her she said “I am super grateful to my mom that she did not lose the tongue she first came from in this country.”
The narrative includes what may be a comforting experience for some people, during their childhood or even now. Magaly’s experience of enjoying her grandmother’s hand made food is a comforting experience many people have been fortunate enough to experience. The inclusion of this description serves to remind readers of their own childhood memories.
“Desde mis raíces mexicanas, todo lo que sabía era el sabor del chocolate Abuelita con las conchas. Las salsas de mi cada dia en cada platillo hecho con Amor y orgullo.” Which translates to, “From my Mexican roots, all I knew was the taste of my grandmother’s chocolate and the conchas (a traditional Mexican bread).
She also writes about comforting acts by her mother, towards her, in Spanish. The description of how her mother wakes her up every morning in Spanish is another comforting thought for many readers. “La lengua que cada día que me desperté y la voz de mi mamá diciéndo me “Ya desperate Magaly.” Which translates “The tongue of every day that wakes me up and the voice of my mom telling me to wake up Magaly.” The above illustrative examples used by Magaly is a strategic use of imagery that helps the readers to connect to the narrative.
Magaly describes her English as “muy simple, …, nothing complicated, not standard perfect.” This is seen in her vivid description of the setting night she finished writing the final draft of her essay and her emotions at that time too.
The description of her sitting in front of her computer for hours while deleting most of her essay and the sound of the sanitary truck passing by and the sound of the trash bags hitting the back of the truck, allows the readers to visualize the amount of dedication Magaly put into making her essay better. It allows the readers to connect with Magaly’s emotional introspection, whether they have had a similar experience or not. Magaly believes that her relationship with Spanish has impacted her positively by allowing her to help people who speak the language. Furthermore, her improved relationship with English, she stated, is visible in the awards, achievements, and confidence she has gained.
Overall, Magaly’s narrative provides readers with adequate contextual information to connect with her emotionally while reading her essay. Her emotions are very clear through strategies such as repetitive questions and her settings are descriptive via the use of imagery. The audience for this piece could be almost anyone, as someone has encountered at least one of the things that Magaly wrote about. It would enable them to connect and appreciate the piece in their own way.
