The First English Word I Learned Was ‘Loser’

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By Lisa Burgoa, Cypress Bay High School ’15

And in that moment, I knew. I knew why I was always so enthralled with Papi’s stories of the Incan temples that still stood in the heart of Bolivia. They had weathered the centuries and the influence of Spaniards to continue to stretch their spires to the sky, saving themselves from cultural oblivion. And I knew, regardless of my language, that my heritage was forged from the same unbreakable stones as these structures, that my identity was as resilient as an Incan temple, and that I was as powerful as the Sapa Inca.

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