By: Dani Carmack, News Writer
My mom was born in Barranquilla, Colombia. A city on the Caribbean coast that’s known for its world-famous Carnival and household names like Shakira and Sofía Vergara. My mom graduated high school at 15, which is something I almost mirrored her in by graduating high school at 16. She attended la Universidad Del Norte in her hometown out of high school, but just like me she longed for more out of her life. Maybe it’s something that runs in the family, that feeling of knowing the world has more to offer than what’s in front of you. My mom was my age, 18, when she boarded a flight and moved 3,245 km away from everything she knew.
When my mom first left Barranquilla, she decided on first trying to start her life in the US in Elizabeth, New Jersey where she already had family. Elizabeth is a city just around a 30-minute drive from Manhattan, New York. But her time in Elizabeth didn’t last forever, and later on she ended up in Rockford, Illinois. This was where she would meet my dad and would be the city where I was born.
Growing up, I used to always hear the story of how when she first moved to Rockford she would walk two hours to and from her job at a local donut shop, even during the harsh Northern Illinois winters that brought blizzards and below zero temperatures. Even though I was born in Rockford, I don’t remember it much besides the trips I’ve taken to see family once I got older. My parents both decided that Rockford isn’t where they were going to grow, both education and career-wise.
For as long as I can remember, my family moved around a lot, usually with the reasoning being a new job opportunity or educational opportunity for my parents. While I was a toddler, my mom worked towards getting a bachelor’s in nursing. I don’t remember much at this point besides vague memories of spending days with my grandparents, who left Colombia when I was born. They helped my parents (or my dad) with me as my mom spent hours upon hours studying for exams or attending clinicals. I didn’t know it or understand it as a kid, but she put herself through that not just to better her own life, but for me and later my younger brother. My mom was in school until I was about almost out of elementary school, later getting a masters in nursing and working as a nurse practitioner.
As a Colombian woman working in the healthcare field in the US right now, my mom is setting an example for Latinos in healthcare. According to a study published in the Journal of Nursing Regulation, as of 2025 only 7.2% of all nurse practitioners are Hispanic or Latino. Despite her pushes throughout high school and even into my first year of post-secondary education, I didn’t decide to take the healthcare route, but growing up with a nurse practitioner as a mom made me have an appreciation for anyone who goes into the healthcare field.
My mom was always someone in my life who was an example of resilience, dedication, and hard work, and to me her story showed me that being Latin American is resilience. I grew up seeing my mom’s side of the family, at least my family members who had left Colombia, more often than my dad’s side of the family. Something I’ve internalized growing up around my family from Colombia and around my Latin American friends is that no matter what the people in our community have been through, it’s hard to break our spirits and we always bounce back.
Despite colonization, political and economic instability, and various forms of violence that either us or our families have experienced first hand or the run off effects of, my Latin American community are some of the most welcoming, warmest, and caring people you’ll ever meet.
Every time I’ve brought home a friend who is of another background and speaks absolutely no Spanish besides “hola” and “gracias,” my grandparents have been absolutely ecstatic to hear them speak the language, even better when they know a bit more than broken Spanish. Back in high school, my mom would sometimes make pandebono (a Colombian bread made with yuca/cassava flour and cheese inside, almost similar to Brazilian pão de queijo) when I had friends over and the whole batch would be gone within minutes.
“It taught me that resilience is in my blood. Even when things get hard I have to remember that. My community will always be there to welcome me and support me.”
Growing up seeing my mom’s dedication to her career and studies, and resilience through something as hard as nursing school, set an example for me. It taught me that resilience is in my blood. Even when things get hard I have to remember that. My community will always be there to welcome me and support me.
