Camila Ruiz Vega is a junior women’s tennis student-athlete majoring in biomedical engineering at University of Rochester. Born in Argentina, she grew up playing tennis and soccer in Puerto Rico. The co-captain has earned 32 wins in her first two seasons.

The UAA “Conversations About Race and Racism” series seeks to lift the voices of people of color and recognize the challenges faced in both athletics and academics at the collegiate level. By sharing personal stories, we hope to elevate the conversation about race to raise awareness and bring about change.

English as a Second Language

When she was 12 years old, Vega competed with her Puerto Rican team in a tennis tournament against teams from states across the U.S. “My first language is Spanish. I learned English in elementary school after moving to Puerto Rico. Most of my teammates spoke both languages, but we communicated in Spanish,” she explained. “Our first match was against a team from Florida with several Latinas on the team, but then we played an all-white team from North Carolina. We won a point and said, ‘Vamos!’ (‘Let’s Go’ in English). It all went downhill from there. Their kids on the sidelines would say it to mock us. Whenever we said something in Spanish, they would use the word(s) for their own team.”

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