The Beginning of Something Great

     Hello there, fellow AP Comp students. My name is José Ignacio Montalvo, better known in McFarland as Jose or Josie. As many of you may know by now I am from Quito, Ecuador, and moved here (to Wisconsin) five years ago. It may seem obvious enough, but my life has been a roller coaster ever since.

 

     The nuances between Hispanic and American culture are opulent, to say the least. Life works very differently here, and it can be shocking from time to time. It appears to me as if everyone in the U.S does his/her own thing and only fends for him/herself, which is very contrasting from Hispanics that seem to have a more communal mentality where everyone tries to help the other as much as possible. Perhaps one of the most shocking things I have encountered is the fact that family is not as important as -in my opinion- should be. In Hispanic culture (and many others as well) family is the core of society, meaning that everything revolves around it. Usually, kids do not leave their households until a few years after they finish college, or until they are not dependent on their parents economically anymore. In the counterpart, young adults here want to leave their homes as soon as they turn 18, which is hard for me to wrap my head around. Regardless of how different the U.S is from Ecuador, it is still a gorgeous country and my experience here has been phenomenal so far.

     My first language is Spanish, and I speak it very fluently, but at this point in time, I would not hesitate on saying that my level of English and Spanish are basically the same. Throughout the years I have lost my accent significantly, but there are days where I cannot help butchering words, which can be embarrassing. 

     My favorite activities consist of traveling, music, and being with friends. Traveling is one of my favorite things to do. I love going to new places and exploring new cultures and lifestyles. This summer I got the chance to go to Panama for a bit over a week and I had a stupendous time. Obviously traveling is made easier knowing two of the most spoken languages in the world, which is a nice asset to have. I travel constantly back and forth from Ecuador to visit family and friends which can be melancholic at times, but great nonetheless. Music is one of the main aspects of my life. I play the guitar and also the drums, and I am into most music genres except for country, but that is something I can rumble about in another occasion. My friends mean the world to me, and I consider myself to be a very sociable person. Over 70% of my summer time is spent hanging out with friends, specially my two best friends Schuyler and Quintin. I always have a blast when I am around them. We all share the same passion which is soccer, so we spend endless hours playing "the beautiful game".

     I'm looking forward to AP Composition this upcoming school year and I hope everyone enrolled in the class does too!