Branches Book

BRANCHES

Author’s Statement: Jackeline Lopez-Ruiz

When I was first brainstorming ideas to write about, I never thought about doing a persona essay about my late grandmother. It didn’t occur to me until I was beginning to write my essays for college applications. I wrote a short anecdote about my admiration for my grandma and then I had a light bulb moment! I felt inspired to make a tribute to one of the most important and loved people in my life. I wanted to share with anyone and everyone how my grandma’s life story has shown me how to be a powerful, strong, and resilient woman. In my perspective, persona essays are more successful when told from the voice of the main character. Ergo, my decision to write it primarily in my grandma’s point of view really helped me depict my grandma as authentically as I could. The first perspective narration also allows the history to feel more firsthand and special rather than distant and superficial. My grandma had a huge influence over my sense of self and over the values I hold. Because she shaped so much of who I am today, I continue to love and cherish her to this day. The storytelling and levels of fiction needed to communicate themes of vitality, fierceness, and love were challenges I welcomed. I hope I succeeded in effectively sharing treasured stories about my grandma because I worry that the writing will come across as either too unrealistic or too archival. I worked hard to find a balance between the two by including writing in my personal perspective. I used my point of view to clearly communicate messages about the significance of my relationship with my grandma. In order to visually distinguish the two different points of view, the writing in my point of view is italicized.

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