Il reste toujours quelque chose de l'enfance, toujours...

This piece explores my persistent feelings of isolation throughout my childhood and adolescent years as a result of the language barrier I faced due to my upbringing. My father is Peruvian and my mother is French, and I am a first-generation American. I was raised speaking only French and Spanish, despite being born in and living in the United States my whole life. I have vivid memories from preschool about these feelings of isolation and separation. Through the soft colored pencil rendering of my countenance juxtaposed on undulating phrases in my native languages expressing feelings of fear and helplessness, I convey the emotional turmoil and confusion and hurt that come with different forms of separation, all of which can be traced back to my rather unorthodox upbringing in the context of a “typical” American society. Though I am emphasizing the negative feelings surrounding the effects of this imposed language barrier, overall, I am content with how I have transformed my struggle of learning English past the “heart” of the critical period for language acquisition into a passion for learning languages on my own. Additionally, I am majoring in Art Education with a certification in teaching English as a Second Language (TESOL), and my dream is to teach art as a visual means of communication to English Language Learners to facilitate interpersonal connections among their peers past the language barrier. No one should ever have to feel as I did for so long, and I hope that my future teaching can impact at least one student in such a way.