I was already brooding about my identity before the encounter at school (you might be familiar with this stage; it’s called teenagehood). And I’ll admit that, thanks to the way I looked and the fact that other Latinos often assumed I wasn’t one of them, I even sometimes hesitated before openly labeling myself Latina. But the feeling I got when I heard another classmate call one of my people that slur helped me realize that no matter what other people thought, I was a proud Latina. So I joined a Spanish for Native Speakers class at school. While my Puerto Rican and Dominican friends made fun of my accent, I felt right at home. We all bonded over not knowing where to put an accent and how our moms were replicas of Gloria from Modern Family, and every meeting included a fight over which of our countries had the best empanadas. (I still say Argentina, hands down.) Soon, my AOL Instant Messenger icon (which, for any Gen Z-ers reading this, was like a badge of honor back in the day) became an Argentine flag. And when sweet 16 season came around? I threw the most lit quinceañera ever. And quinceañeras aren’t even part of the Argentine tradition!