Mexican Independence Day 2010 – Celebrating a bicentennial anniversary
While I have admitted publicly that I have never really meshed with the Mexican community in Vancouver (I moved to Canada precisely to be immersed in a fully-Anglosaxon country when I decided to do my MBA), I have always been very proud of my roots. My brothers and I, have worked really hard to excel, and in doing so, we’ve tried to raise Mexico’s profile worldwide. Two of my brothers teach at American universities.
I teach in a Canadian university, and we all (the five of my brothers and I) did our graduate degrees outside of Mexico. We (my brothers and I) are all very successful Mexicans who live and work abroad. Many of my good friends are Mexican and also incredibly successful, both in Mexico and outside of the country. Many notable Mexicans have set examples worldwide: Alicia Bárcena is a Mexican and the United Nations Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). Mario Molina is a Mexican and a Nobel Prize for Chemistry (1995). Lorena Ochoa, former golf world champion is Mexican, so is the 2009 world water diving champion, Paola Espinosa. The secretary of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is Jose Angel Gurria, a Mexican. The Dean of the Harvard School of Public Health, Julio Frenk, is Mexican. Several of Canada’s Research Chair holders are originally Mexican. And the list goes on…
Rarely do I get this immense sense of pride, but Mexico’s celebration of 200 years of independence really brings out the Mexican in me. Mexico is much more than a country with good food and happy people. Mexico is a fantastic country (admittedly, with a history of corrupt governments and a current flood of drug-trafficking wars). But no country is heaven, and no country is free of problems.
I live in Canada because I chose to live here, but I’m proud of where I came from and I’m proud of the people who, along with me, have worked hard to put Mexico’s name high up. I’m happy to educate Canadians and I get a little bit of a sense of satisfaction when I get Mexican students on an exchange term because they can see me as a role model. They too, can achieve what I have accomplished (if they work hard).
México lindo y querido, en tu bicentenario, que viva México, que viva el país que amo. My love to Mexicans here in Canada and abroad. Feliz cumpleaños número 200, México!
