Interview, Ariana Cuadrado Sylvester

Ariana Cuadrado Sylvester was born in 1984 and raised in Rochester, New York, by her white mother and Puerto Rican father. Her parents divorced when she was young. When she was about nine years old, she moved with her mother to Holley, New York, where she completed her elementary and high-school education. She went on to complete her college education with a degree in zoology.

In this interview, Ariana Cuadrado Sylvester discusses the difficulties of moving at a young age, her experiences of discrimination, and maintaining relationships with the Puerto Rican community in unique ways. She examines how she came to feel disconnected from her Puerto Rican heritage, her experiences as a bicultural person, and her desire to go to events like the Puerto Rican Festival to reconnect with her heritage and the local community. She also discusses her desire to connect her children with their Puerto Rican heritage, the way her upbringing affects her life, and her relationship with religion.