-
Coming to America
On June 3rd 1987 my father, a man by the name of Jasiel Aceituno moved from the tiny Honduran town of Valle de Angeles to San Diego, California. One of my dads biggest wishes was to visit his cousin who lived in Dallas, Texas and he did just that. On october 12, 1988 my father met up with his cousin in Dallas at a Cowboys game. This is where he happened to be seated next to a lady visiting family from New York who would turnout to be my mom. -
The greatest move
After a years of communicating via letters, phone calls, along with a few frequent visits, my parents decided to move in together in an apartment in a nice Dallas suburb. This was majorly significant to my life because without the big move I would have never been born today. -
The stork delivers
On july 8th 1993 Jasiel and Faye gave birth to the youngest of their three children. That young child happened to be me whom they named Jeremy Curtis. This was a significant point in my life before it had already begun because my parents chose to give me my mothers maiden name. I was given my mothers maiden name because my mothers only sibling was a sister which meant we had no boys to carry on the last name Curtis. This date was also important because I shared my first birthday with grandma. -
A lost Love
One significant event in my life that shaped me today was the passing of my aunt Kendall. Kendall was my mothers only sibling and closest friend so when she passed away my mom took it really hard and it made her realize the importance of family. We took in my Aunts two children that were older than me and raised them as our own family. -
The push for a new beginning
When my dad moved to America, he knew that he wanted a better life for his future family than he had in Honduras. He was an excellent cooker and could smoke meat like no other. Sometime in August of 2000, my dad decided that he would push to seal a comfortable future for his family by opening a Honduran/Barbecue restaurant. He failed on his first start up because no one was familiar with Honduran cuisine, but he reopened a restaurant named Aceituno's BBQ -
Laying down the roots
After a few years of my fathers business opening back in 2000 and with the additional 3 chains in Dallas, my father was in a comfortable enough place to start building a home. My father did not have much back in his Honduran village, but he made sure that he would spare not expense on his family. This was significant for us because we would have a true place to call our own where we could live without 5 to a room. The home he built would later teach us the importance of family and unity. -
Opening my eyes
This was the first time in my life that I had faced discrimination upon my skin color. A older kid in the 5th grade called m a racial slur and started pushing me while I was waiting for homeroom. This was the first time that I used rage to strike someone and was the first time my eyes were opened to the fact that not everyone will like you. -
Embracing my culture
After struggling with my first racial incident along with questioning my heritage, my father decided that it was time to visit our family in Honduras. It would be the first time I had been back to Honduras since I was a little infant and the first time I would get to speak Spanish to someone other than my dad and siblings. The experience in Honduras was eye opening. I got to see how fortunate I was to live in America. -
Honduran Lessons
I moved to Honduras for a summer to stay with my grandparents. This made me very humble to live in a small village without luxuries I had in America. The trip taught me the importance of success and family. I had never been hugged, kissed, and told I was loved by so many people in my life every day. We always had family dinners with everyone at the table which I loved and realized why my dad always made us do it. The trip taught me so much about who I was and who I want to be. -
Experiencing diversity
2007 was the year I completed my first year in the largest high school in the state of Texas. There were so many ethnicities, cultures, students, lesson, and I wanted to learn all of them. I was taught about diversity with all of the friends I made from different ethnicities and background . I learned how to ask questions to better learn about someone, how to present myself to someone with different beliefs, and how to accept everyone no matter of their differences. -
Graduation
May 2011 was a big deal for me as a peron because I lost my Honduran grandfather whom I was close to. My siblings and father were able to visit him in the hospital before he passed, but I had to stay to focus on school and sports. He congratulated me on my high school completion and made me promise that I would go to college and be more successful than my father to set an example to my family members back in Honduras. -
Crossing boundaries
During this time I met a girl by the Name of Kiersten who happened to be from a small Texas town. After months of friendship we took a trip to her home town to pick her dog up. She explained to me before we got their that parts of her family were not very diversified and might not be completely accepting of me. I was a little upset, but put that aside because it was cool to see that although she may have grownup with not accepting other ethnicities, she made her own decision to love everyone. -
Reaching my goal
During my college career I as exposed to racism, discrimination, hatred, identity crisis, and much more. I was taught a lot and every experience made me a better person. All of it pushed me to graduate and be the first in many generations to graduate college on my Honduran and American sides of my family. It also marked the day I began to find my place in the world as a young adult. -
Today
Today I have continued to keep my promise to my grandfather by enrolling into a graduate program while also working fulltime to become something great. I know who I am and am fully indulged in my culture. With today's presidential election I continually ask myself how will my ethnicity and culture be accepted in current America. No matter the outcome I will strive to succeed in all that I do and spread unity among cultures and my future family.
