<p>I was recently accepted to Cornell. I love its academics and its atmosphere. My visit there made me love the place. But allow me to tell you a bit of my story:</p>
<p>I have Hispanic ancestry.<br>
My dad and his parents were born and grew up in a Hispanic country. My grandmother on his side was Mestizo (a mix of Amerindian and White). My grandfather on his side was Chinese.<br>
My mom and her side of the family is completely Chinese.</p>
<p>I am racially 75% East Asian and 25% Mestizo.
I am ethnically both Chinese and Hispanic.
But I look, almost completely, East Asian.</p>
<p>On my Common App, I identified myself as Hispanic(Central America), Asian(Chinese) White(Mestizo), and American Indian(Mestizo). I identify with my Hispanic side because my dad speaks Spanish fluently and has shown me a lot of the Central American culture he experienced as a child.</p>
<p>Recently, I was invited to attend Diversity Hosting Weekend and the American Indian club. I'm not sure what to make of this. Although I love being a person of mixed culture, I'm not sure if I'll get "weird looks" because of the way I look. Also, I identify with the ethnic Hispanic culture of my family, but I don't know much about the Amerindian traditions. </p>
<p>I grew up in a mostly Hispanic neighborhood. I was ostracized because of the way I look. I hope to not see that at Cornell. I have faith that Cornell kids are more understanding. But I would still feel bad if I go to DHW and see people giving me weird looks.</p>
<p>I would appreciate any future or current Cornellian advice on this.</p>
<p>^ The important thing is to not worry about any of what is giving you disquiet in your post above. Go to the Diversity Hosting Weekend if you want, or don’t go if you’d rather not – but I doubt very much people would give you looks, and in the unlikely event that you got some curious looks: no big deal. People may just be innocently curious. They may glance at you like they glance at anybody, and you could conceivably misinterpret that kind of inherently innocuous look. It doesn’t matter. On the basis of the analysis of your heritage you described above, you know your roots very well, indeed-- this is what is important, and commendable. Reserve your worries for other things, like staying ahead of the game academically. You sound like a very thoughtful and sensitive human being, the kind of which the world could use more of … the only thing is, it’d be in your interest to learn to worry less-- particularly about what other people think and feel. What matters is that you carry yourself with self-respect in any situation.</p>
<p>Don’t worry. My D had a similar concern last year. We asked a similar question and was answered by a person who is a blonde hispanic. That person too was of mixed race. Not everyone looks like the stereotypical ethnicity. And many are of mixed race such as yourself. Cornell wants you to see the diversity of the community there and to feel welcome, not self conscious. Go and have fun!</p>
<p>Don’t worry about race. While Cornell has many pitfalls, racial diversity and social acceptance is definitely not one of them. There are a lot of people here from mixed heritage and while you might get the surprised look every so often after you tell someone of your race, people don’t really care. I say this from first hand experience. Just look at my name and that should tell you my heritage.</p>
<p>^^^^ Agreed. I could not think of a more ethnically diverse and racially tolerant place than Cornell. There are SO many students here of mixed backgrounds-- I promise you, no one will question you, because I feel like so many students here are in the same boat.</p>
ha. My mother’s side is from Mexico but we all look pretty darn white. Except for my brother. It’s weird how this stuff works.</p>
<p>
+1. You’ll get the odd person who does care and makes it a priority in their life, but they are few and far between. I can only speak for my core group of friends, but if you came up to us with an unsolicited speach on your ancestry, you’d probably get hear a “uhhh … great. Does that mean you brought beer?” response. There are a dozen other things you should be thinking about before you move to the hill, post #1 is certainly not one of them.</p>