Alison Munaylla

 Alison Munaylla, 19, is a biology major at Marymount University in Arlington. Originally from Peru, she has lived most of her life along Columbia Pike.

"I was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, but I was raised in Peru. I consider myself Peruvian because my whole family's Peruvian. I was about two or three years old when we came to America. When my dad, mom, and I first moved here we rented rooms on Columbia Pike. After they got divorced it was just me and my dad renting out rooms until we met my step-mom and brother. That was when we moved to Arbor Heights apartments. After that it was Westmont Gardens.
 
I went to Carlin Springs Elementary School, Thomas Jefferson Middle School, and then Wakefield High. Now I’m at Marymount University, studying biology with a minor in sustainability. It's mostly environmentalism work. What I'm really focusing on is conservation because I've had lot of work experience in conservation and it's something I really enjoy doing. I first found out about this field when I saw a position posted for the American Conservation Experience. I thought it would be just a nice summer job that I could have working outdoors, earn a little extra money. That was the summer of 2019 and it was the most memorable summer of my entire life so far. It was a lot of working outdoors with other people along the George Washington Memorial Parkway. We worked doing eradication of non-native species. It was just so much fun that I decided to apply to another conservation program called the Youth Conservation Corps, the YCC. It has become my area of study in college. it works for me so I'm deciding to keep pursuing it.

I wrote a piece about my life growing up on the Pike for a summer project that I was working on. We learned about Latin culture in the DC area. I wanted to express the knowledge gained from that course and decided to do my piece on Columbia Pike because it's my home, it's what I've known my whole life, my whole experience. I focused on the perspective of my parents because they're the ones who have had the most impact on me. They're the ones who took care of me when I was younger. We didn't have a lot of money, we didn't have a lot of friends, we didn't have a lot of family either in America. So they had to use what they could, the resources they were given, which was all along the Pike, to make friends, to be familiar with what they could do to get ahead in this country. It was very difficult growing up. My parents did a really good job at protecting me from things that come with going through the immigration process and how difficult it can be. They’ve tried their best to help me have a normal childhood with friends I could play with, with getting a good education and I really appreciate them for that.
 
My dad started off as a construction worker along the Pike and my mom was staying home in a room that we rented, taking care of me. Eventually they did get divorced because of, I guess, differences in what they wanted out of when they came to America. That was difficult for me because I was about four years old, still new to this country, and I didn't understand why if we moved somewhere so far, why did they have to get divorced and why couldn't they stick together through this very difficult time we were having? But eventually it's all right in the end. I'm living with my dad right now who remarried and it's consistent. It's fine. I guess the biggest thing that we struggled with was the living situation in because we didn't really have a lot of money. We would live with a variety of people as we moved around, because we could not afford to rent our own place. Some people were good, some of them were people you just wouldn't want to be with, but you really had no choice to live with. We were less fortunate than the other families around.
 
I believe the fact that when we came to Arlington that it was already a very diverse area helped me a lot. I don't run into a lot of racist encounters or discrimination. I think it's very fortunate that we moved here out of all places in America, because it really helped me grow up in a healthy environment.

When I was in high school, I was in a support group, United Minority Girls. It really helped me understand that there are other people just like me, because it's not easy to really connect with people just because they're minorities. I think it was a really good way to make friends, especially being a woman and pursuing an academic career in education, I think it does require support from other people and I'm really thankful for that. The program gave me a lot of support. Obviously there was the youth network and there was also a lot of encouragement from the staff. I remember there were many moments when us girls would just feel like giving up and really feel over-stimulated, overwhelmed by the process of getting into college but Mr. Beitler, Ms. Maitland, and Mr. Cotman would help us out and encourage us to keep going, encourage us to go against the odds, go against what other people were seeing about girls like us. We understood that as immigrants, it was not the easiest to get into college, especially if you're undocumented, which some girls were, but it is still possible. It's a very difficult process for some, more difficult than for others, but we were able to work hard, push through it, do our best.
 
I was encouraged by my family, especially my dad. He always cared about my education. He always prioritized it over everything and I don't think without him I would be where I am today, how I am today, or have the mindset I have about education today. Neither of my parents went to college. They didn’t have that opportunity. They did graduate high school; they had some education, and they saw it was important for me. 
 
When we were living at Westmont Gardens, my mom and my aunt, not really our biological aunt, but we consider her aunt, Tia, I remember me and my cousin, Emily, her daughter, would play in the two parks there. We would stroll around in our little carts, always fighting with each other, trying to gross each other out and it was so much fun. Just moments being a child, growing up and feeling unaware of the situation you're in, unaware of the stress your parents are going through and just creating those memories. I do remember a lot of happy times, especially with my family.
 
I had friends in school who were from other cultures, though a lot of my friends were Hispanic and Latina. That was very fun. Most of the memories I had of them were at school, on the playground, in class. Good memories. In Carlin Springs, we had talent shows. One time we did a fashion show and we would all have to rehearse during our after-school programs, and we'd wear these really crazy funny outfits, boa scarves and grass skirts. We would all just laugh and have fun. When it came time for the talent show, We would do our poses that we’d rehearsed, obviously forgetting things because we were children, but is was really fun. I didn't go to a lot of football games at Wakefield High School , but when I did the spirit was always there, the cheering. There were dances, homecoming, I've only been to one homecoming and that was my senior year, right before COVID hit so, I never got to have a graduation ceremony.

I never did have a Quinceañera and I regret it to this day. I think when you grow up and you're 14, 15, you don't want a lot of attention. You're kind of closed off, maybe a little insecure and I think that's what struck me. Also, I didn't want my parents to spend money because I know those are very expensive too. The struggles we had brought us closer together. My family is very supportive of me, especially my dad who has been there most of my life. He's always been just the constant in my life, always there for me.
He is now an electrician for a company and he did school after that, about four years of school of studying while taking care of me and my little brother. And I'm really proud of him, honestly, for coming such a long way from where he started.
 
It has been a change going to college in a way, but since I commute there, and I still live in the same place, but I think it's different than some other students. It's a little more lonely than high school. It’s not as easy to make friends because everyone is there to get an education and  it’s such a small school. The focus is really get your education, get these experiences, get these credits. So not super easy to make friends, but still...

I'm a US citizen now. I did speak Spanish at home, but it's kind of erased a little bit as I’ve continued my education here, which is unfortunate, so I'm trying to relearn it. I wasn't really connected to my Peruvian culture too much growing up because I felt my parents were already struggling to adapt to the environment here in America, to become American US citizens, so we didn't really have a lot of time for doing things like that. We also didn't have a lot of friends so we didn't immerse ourselves into the Peruvian community here. We were pretty alone for a very long time, but very close as family. If I have a family in the future, they will be the core, but not exactly in the way that I was growing up. I'd want them to explore the world and see what it is truly like, because I think that can prepare people better for the situations that they'll encounter out in the real world, the people they're going to meet, how to treat others who are different than you.
 
I would say if my regular diet is more Brazilian than anything because my stepmom is Brazilian and she does cook a lot of food for us. When we visit my cousins who are over in Sterling, we have really good Peruvian food because they really love the food there and wanted to keep that when they moved here. I really love ceviche. There's also these kernels of corn, canchitas, that we eat as appetizers before the entrees and chicha morada to drink. I had it a lot, it’s made from purple corn, spices, and fruit. When there was a Food Star grocery store where the Harris Teeter is now, we did our shopping there a lot. I miss that Food Star. I miss the giant Food Star sign I used to see over there. 
 
I didn't experience a lot of prejudice growing up. Thankfully I've never gone through something horrible like that, but I know the same can't be for other people here, because we all share different experiences of prejudice. When I was in the United Minority Girl group, other kids shared stories of hardships, including some from the Hispanic girls. For some of the people from other counties though, it would be harder for them. They did experience prejudice.

I have noticed things changing along Columbia Pike. New shops are popping up, there’s been some remodeling. One thing that hasn't really changed is the construction on the Pike. There's always been construction on the Pike. My dad would always complain about it. Ever since I moved here, there's always been construction, there's always been some potholes here. I found it very annoying, but I don't know when it will end. It may never end. I think the kind of people who are living here are pretty much the same as there has been my whole life. Maybe it attracts new people, now but it's still a very diverse area, which I'm thankful for. 
 
Home to me is somewhere where I've shared a lot of experiences with something familiar. It may not be the happiest experience or the best experiences always, but they're definitely memorable experiences that have helped shape me to be the person I am and the perceptions I have about the world today.

In ten years hopefully I will have completed some sort of higher education, get some job in the conservation field, hopefully live close to there. I do want to travel a lot before I maybe settle down for a job or a family. I've thought about where I will live in the future. If I did have to stay in Virginia, I would stay here right in northern Virginia close to DC on the Pike. It's a really wonderful community here. A lot different than places in south Virginia. I really like this place."

Interview and photography by Lloyd Wolf.