Sergio Cabrales

Please explain what you do for a living.

I am studying here in the United States thanks to the Fulbright scholarship, so the government is giving me the opportunity to study here at the University of Pittsburgh in GSPIA.

How important in your identity is being Latino?

Well, you don’t realize that it is so important until you’re outside of Latin America. When you find yourself in an environment that is different, that is really new, you consolidate your own identity. For example, in Nicaragua, where I’m from, I never realized the importance of, for example, the Latin music, the importance of my accent, of that kind of thing. But since I am here, I realize that that is stronger in another environment.

Is there something that you particularly value about being Latino, or about being Nicaraguan?

I will say that we are always warm, we are always happy, and we are always trying to make others feel comfortable, and to give something to others.

Since you’ve been in the United States, do you find that you’ve been treated differently because you are Latino? (ex. In the workplace, in a public setting, etc.)

Well, in my school in most of my classes I think that I am the only Latino person. I’m not sure if I am the only one in the first year of the master’s program; most of the other international students are from Asia. But, for the most part here, I don’t feel that they have treated me any differently. They are very nice.