Anthony Gonzalez, Fenway High, Boston, 2020

Code-Switch

Code-switch. Verb. It is to have the ability to alternate between two or more languages or varieties of language in conversation. This is a skill that is essential to the success of anyone. But there was once a time where I didn’t even know what this ability was, let alone how to do it.

This journey, or should I say the start of my new double life, all started in my freshman year of high school, the moment it hit me how important it is to code-switch. Back then, I don’t think I would be in this position that I am now. I was a rowdy kid, fresh out of middle school, who only spoke one of two ways: loud English or loud Spanish. There was no in between for me. There was no turning the slang on and off at a moment’s notice. One day, I was even given an opportunity to fix it. This happened at a school assembly. I was speaking into the microphone and without even realizing it, I was cussing and speaking in slang. Mr. Walker, our principal, immediately called me into his office and told me that I had two options. One was either to write an essay about why code-switching is important, much like this one. Or two: to call my mother and tell her why I was in trouble myself. I would assume most kids would have chosen the essay to spare the lectures and punishments from their parents, but of course, me being the hardhead I was, I chose the phone call.

I never really saw how much this was affecting me, until I saw all of the opportunities my friends and classmates were getting while I wasn’t getting any. I would just sit there and think to myself, Well, what the heck? Why am I not getting any of these opportunities? Then I saw how they were acting when we were in certain places. They were code-switching. For example, the day that it occurred to me that I need to learn how to code-switch. It was the day of the annual senior science fair at the Museum of Science. My friends and I were responsible for getting there on our own, and on the way we were acting as freshmen did —rowdy and immature. But as soon as we stepped foot into the museum, they suddenly stopped. As I watched, I was confused because just a few seconds ago, while we were outside, they were acting and talking totally different. It was like when you change your behavior when you’re in somebody else’s house to make a good impression. It felt like that. And it amazed me how they were just able to switch it on effortlessly.

That day was the official start of my new double life. I’m not going to sit here and act like I’ve changed my whole personality to become a totally different person, because that just isn’t true. I’m still that kid who can get a little rowdy at times, who likes to laugh, who likes to have fun and enjoy life. But on the flip side of that, I have also become someone who can speak and act professionally when necessary, and who would be a great representative of wherever I end up. Because of code-switching, I have become a very versatile person in the sense that I can switch my tone and behavior to fit whatever setting I step into. Or even use it to relate to any person I talked to, whether it’s a college professor, a CEO, or even a kid who doesn’t understand what code -switching is in the first place. Like I was.

Also, because of code-switching I’m gratefully in a position to even be writing this essay this year, and next year, have the opportunity to go to college and have a chance to be successful. And that alone is a blessing no matter where I end up next year.