A quinceanera dress is something that represents me and my culture.  As young Hispanic women, a tradition most of us celebrate is our fifteenth birthday - our quinceanera!  We wear a dress of our choice, usually a ball gown, and also a crown.  Both of my sisters and myself had quinceanera celebrations, wearing dresses and crowns. I was the last to have one. A quinceanera is a huge step to becoming a young woman. The symbolic meaning of a quinceanera is the beginning of womanhood, starting to cook, clean, and doing things on your own. When I had my quinceanera, my sister and mom both talked to me and told me that having this quinceanera isn’t just throwing me a big party, it means that from this point forward no more games, it’s time for responsibility and growth. No more faults without repercussions, no more having mom doing things for me. It’s my responsibility now. My quinceanera is preparing me for what’s to come in the real world. One day I will have to do things on my own and starting off at 15 is one of the best things that happened to me. I remember being scared of everything. Talking to the doctor, buying things, etc. - all these things I had my mom doing for me until I turned fifteen. Now everything is up to me. Now I can make my own appointments, drive places, have that responsibility. My quinceanera was on November 25th, 2017. It’s now September 13, 2019. The growth I’ve had is remarkable. I look back to when I was 15, from before and even after my quince and see the change within myself. I plan to hold onto it forever.

– Isabel Ungureanu

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