<p>i'm half black and half hispanic.
should i center my essay around race or just casually mention it from time to time or what?</p>
<p>Just check the boxes.</p>
<p>Do you have something specific to your ethnicity that you want to mention? A specific event, or experience? If not, you don’t need to mention it. Unless it’s expressly relevant to the subject of your essay, throwing it in there casually once in a while might seem forced and stilted.</p>
<p>Just for fun, consider the difference between the following:</p>
<p>The most unforgettable experience I’ve ever had was on the top of Mount Rainier. I had climbed up there after a grueling 12-hour hike that started at 6 in the morning and culminated in my ascension to the summit just after 6pm. The sun was beginning to set, creating a beautiful shadow over the day. Exhausted, I collapsed onto the floor, resting on the backpack that my mom, who is Hispanic, had crafted for me. Also, my dad is black. As I looked over the stunning vista, I realized that we are all insignificant and that I had become a better person.</p>
<p>The most unforgettable experience I ever had was during the finals of my chess competition - but not because of the competition itself. My parents, grandparents and even a distant cousin had come to watch me play, and as a crowd of Hispanic and blacks, they stood out greatly among the mostly white audience. Then someone made a disparaging comment about my family, but I beat him in chess, so it was okay. This made me realize how entrenched prejudice is in our lives, even if it’s not overtly hurtful, and that I had to rise above my circumstances, blah blah.</p>
<p>(Neither is very good, of course, but consider them as an academic exercise :))</p>
<p>haha makes sense! thanks!</p>
<p>if you have something distinctive about it</p>