Hi, Jayvien! What is your favorite part about being Latinx? I'm Dominican, and my favorite part is probably the food, especially locrio de salami con maiz. It’s white rice, and then my mom puts ingredients in it to make it orange, and then she puts in salami and then she cooks it with the rice and a lot of corn. There are also a lot of other great things, too. Yes! What else is at the top of your list? This year I went to the Nickelodeon resort in Punta Cana, that’s about five hours away from a house my grandma has in the Dominican Republic. The resort has a huge water park with eight slides. Sometimes there’s a lot of geckos in the Dominican Republic so I try to catch them with my cousin. One time I caught one by the tail, and I let him go. One time I saw a huge bug there. I also went up the highest mountain the Dominican Republic. That sounds amazing. What do you wish more people knew about the Dominican Republic? I wish more people knew how fun it is there. When you go to D.R., you feel like heaven. It’s hot there, but it’s just so relaxing. What is your favorite Latinx tradition and why? I have two favorites – New Year’s and birthday parties. For New Years, we get beans and money, and we give it to each other. We fill the beans in our pockets for good luck, and during the count down we throw them up in the air. Every birthday party, they put on this special song and everybody is just dancing and jumping, even the adults. How would you describe what it means to be Latinx? It means I’m proud that I’m Dominican. Because if I was never Dominican I would never have had these experiences and these are some of the best places I’ve ever gone to. I am grateful to be Dominican. Jayvien is a fourth-grader at AF Providence Elementary.