Hello exchange partners!
My name is Maria Ramirez, and I am from a city called Waukesha in a state called Wisconsin. This region of the United States is considered the “midwest.” Though I was raised in and identify with this midwest culture, my family heritage is Mexican on my father’s side, and Austrian and German on my mother’s side. My great-great-grandparents came to the U.S. from these countries in the early 1900s.
I grew up in Wisconsin with my two parents and two siblings-an older sister and younger brother. My parents raised my siblings and me to value education, working hard, and caring about others. My parents also valued learning about the world around us. When I was growing up, my family hosted five year-long exchange students in our home. After being a host sister to these brothers and sisters from across the globe, I wanted to be an exchange student myself. It was for this reason that I applied for the National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) exchange program to Cairo, Egypt.
