Hello everyone!
My name is Jairo Lazo. I am 19 years old, and I was born in the Bronx, New York City, but raised in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. My family includes my mom, dad, older sister, who is 21 years old, and two dogs, a German Shepherd and a Yorkie.
My parents are immigrants from Peru, a country in South America known for its delicious dishes and vast mountains. Although I am Peruvian, I regret to say that I can't speak Spanish fluently, although I can understand it. Growing up, I was surrounded by Spanish at home but always responded in English. This led me to develop what's known as receptive multilingualism, where your brain understands a language even if you can't speak it fluently. I often wonder why that is. If I know the language, why can't I speak it? This is because understanding and speaking a language engage two different parts of the brain! Since I never practiced speaking Spanish with my family, I didn't activate the part of my brain responsible for speaking, even though I constantly heard it. I found it fascinating how this worked, and my curiosity about how our brains work led me to study neuroscience at Lafayette College.
