Blog Breathe - In the Heights 

The song Breathe resonated with me in terms of the struggle and pressures that Nina feels as a college 

student. While I am ½ Dominican, I’m adopted and don’t have the cultural experience of being raised in 

the Latino community or being first-generation college student. I do have the experience of feeling anxiety

 and struggling in college because I’m dyslexic. However, I have emotional, educational and family 

support, and family role models that help guide my college experience. Nina feels community and family 

pressure of being a Latina immigrant and first-generation college student. She is proud she made it to 

college but also feels pressure not to disappoint her family and community. She attends Stanford and as a 

Latina women has a different cultural experience attending college where she faces racism, feels culturally 

alone and doesn’t have her family nearby for emotional support.

 I chose First Gen Latino Experience|Lecciones De Vida (Life Lessons) Episode 1 

(https://youtu.be/1X05mXHAt_A?si=VoBpAGbM7A86AZFN) as an example of real life comparison 

Breathe in the musical In the Heights. In Lecciones De Vida episode the hosts talk with 2 Latino students 

about their first-gen experiences in college. A lot of what they say directly connects to Nina’s song 

Breathe. The challenges they experienced applying to college and attending college. Their experiences are 

pretty much the same ones that Nina sings about in Breath, such as feeling family and community 

pressure, the burden of disappointing your family, struggle of finding your identify in a very different 

environment where you grew up, emotional and added financial support that you may or may not have 

access. Not having access to guidance and role model to help with some would consider basic tasks like 

registering for classes, or even asking for help.