Personal Narrative: Demographic Differences

The summer before my freshman year, I moved to Eagle County, Colorado from Evanston, Illinois– a town adjacent to Chicago. While it was a drastic change, there were some striking similarities in the socioeconomic disparities seen in both Chicago and Eagle County. Chicago is notorious for the inequalities that are represented between the inner-city neighborhoods and the suburbs. Still, I was surprised when I moved to the mountains– I hadn’t expected there to be such socioeconomic differences between the wealthy and less fortunate in the Vail Valley. Unfortunately, the less fortunate group of people in Eagle County are the Hispanics.

I am a Latino and I am incredibly lucky to have opportunities similar to those with significant financial resources.

It allowed me to interact with all the people of the Vail Valley, regardless of their socioeconomic status– whether or not they were the wealthy elite, lived in townhomes, or in the trailer parks. My friends were my friends regardless of their diverse backgrounds, where they lived, or what color their skin was.

I have been blessed with the opportunity to partake in volunteer activities through school and outside of school. Through VMS, I worked with organizations like Habitat for Humanity and with homeless in Denver through the Grant Street Reach. Still, it wasn’t until I started tutoring local underprivileged kids within our valley community, that I understood the true value of locally targeted programs.

During my last summer in Colorado, I did an internship with the Eagle River Youth Coalition (eagleyouth.org). ERYC understands the cultural differences in between the Latino and non-Latino communities of the Vail Valley providing the Latino community with effective and meaningful programs. As an intern, I was selected to be a videographer/journalist in order to document the organization’s work. I am proud that my work with ERYC will be used to bring greater awareness of their activities to a wider range of the valley