Final Draft

Kimberly Pereyra Moneró: The Family Girl 

Kimberly is reaching new heights! She is majoring in Political science and wants to explore the world. She is the youngest of all her siblings and is the most loved by her dad. At the age of 15, she has explored many parts of Europe such as Italy, France, and Switzerland. Being the youngest, she feels that she has the responsibility to keep her family entertained and always happy but she loves doing little things for her family to show how much she appreciates them.  

Despite being born in America, she was raised in the Dominican Republic. When she became a teenager, she had to leave her parents in the Dominican Republic and come to New York. She was forced to grow up more quickly than others because she became independent sooner. This experience made her feel like she was robbed of her childhood. Coming to New York at the age of 15, she lived with her older sister. Since her sister was always busy with college, she had to take full responsibility for the household. She made sure that dinner was cooked, the house was clean, groceries were done, laundry was done, and so on. 

For Kimberly, moving to this country and going to high school was difficult at first. She had to learn the ways of life here. Learning English was difficult; she felt embarrassed because of her accent. She used to go to the library during lunch to do her homework by herself because she did not have any friends. However, over time she became more outgoing and comfortable in her own skin. She also learned to project her voice to command power and attention whenever needed.  Now, she is very social and loves to talk to everyone because it is a great learning opportunity.

 “When I meet someone for the first time, I always try to make them laugh,” said Kimberly, with a wide grin. 

“Did you miss your parents?” I asked.  

“I see through their eyes, but I found myself growing up so fast.” Kimberly spoke about her parents you could see her eyes gleam up from happiness and love from the mention of her parents. 

Her parents have been married for 30 years so she sees her parents as an inspiration and admires them. She has a very dynamic relationship with her mom. She has learned from her mom to be selfless and to forgive and forget. They both have a tendency to do things quickly such as cooking and have different ways of doing things. “I have a very chill relationship with my mom,” she said. 

The bond she shares with her dad is something that she cherishes because she loves her dad. She says that she is her dad’s favorite. No matter what happens she can always talk to her dad about anything. She jokes around with her dad a lot, but at the same time, she has immense respect for him. He always emphasizes the importance of education. It came as no surprise when her parents informed her that she was moving to America after her trip to Europe. 

She has traveled to Switzerland, Germany, Italy as a gift for her sweet 15. Her cousin had bought her a ticket to travel to Europe by herself. This trip opened her eyes to the different ways of life outside of the Dominican Republic. She loves to connect with nature. “ If you forget me in the wilderness, you are doing me a favor,” she said.  She enjoys the different cultures and this helped her realize how much she is rooted in her very own culture. She enjoyed traveling to different parts of Europe and taking pictures, soaking in the different sceneries, and foods. Because of her trip to Europe, her parents had not seen her for one month and were not able to be in contact with her due to the time difference. In their eyes, this experience had helped her mature, and they saw this as the right time to send her off to America. 

“What do you love about your sister”, I asked. 

Kimberly has a bittersweet relationship with her sister. When she came to America, her sister was always busy with college but made sure that she always was on the right track with her education: scholarship information, programs, extracurricular activities. On top of her with her classes and assignments. They have silly fights over closet space and house responsibilities. At the end of the day, she loves her sister because of her work ethic and the person she has shaped her to become. 

“What are your future goals”, I asked her. 

“To have a degree in political science and perhaps Latin American studies, and then one day work in Congress. 

 She is a devoted Christian. Kim joined the intervarsity faith club at CCNY, sings at her church and plays guitar, and is currently learning to play the piano. Her parents live with her now in New York but her mom travels back and forth for business. She still has the responsibility of the household though she tries her best to make sure everyone is happy. She discovered a love for tennis which makes her happy. Tennis has brought her closer to her family because she knows that they will support her even if she loses. “My family will always be my biggest strength no matter what happens in my life.”

Draft Process for Peer Interview

Summary of Peer Interview

This peer interview assignment was a first and had a great end result. I remember I was so excited to actually get to know my peer and the conversations were well. We learned about the types of questions you should ask during an interview such as open and closed-ended questions. This technique allowed me to have a comfortable relationship with my peer. Both of us opened up to each other and asked personal questions. This allowed us to have more information to help us form our interview. Additionally, reading magazines and various different types of works allowed us to see how creative we could get. I was able to choose the format of how my paper would be and whether I wanted to include a special style or images. This was one of the papers where I worked my hardest with multiple drafts. I remember visiting the writing center and working on 3 drafts so that I could do justice with the information that I had gathered. Moreover, I started to really enjoy this class and wanted to impress my teacher! I had even asked my teacher in class questions about things that I was unsure of and she did a great job to help clear out my confusion. The writing process for this piece paid off when I had seen my grade and my peer’s reaction when she read it!