Veronika Domke

Introduction
Veronica Leigh Domke, class of 2022, at Miami University is studying Biology & Pre-Medical Studies. She is involved on campus as a member of the Miami University Gospel Singers as well as a Resident Assistant. She is originally from Chicago, but she and her mother moved to Akron when she was four years old.

Family History & Establishing Lives in the U.S.

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

 

 

cousins in Puerto Rico. Domke, herself, only keeps in contact with some of her family members. Her mother has gone back to visit since she continues to stay in touch with much of her family there. In recent years, however, many of Domke’s family members have been moving to Chicago while Puerto Rico is just a vacation spot for them now.

​

Discovering Herself
Much of Domke’s family history is based in Puerto Rico. Although her mother keeps up with current events, she often does not keep up with the news of Puerto Rico herself, besides the notorious natural disasters. This is not unusual to her, however, as due to personal reasons, her family did not talk too much about Puerto Rico while she was growing up.

​

Growing up Afro Latina was puzzling for Domke.

“Being biracial, an Afro Latina, growing up was really confusing. So, I don’t think it was until my college years that I started accepting both sides of my identity because up to then, I only identified as black. […] I definitely would say that I’m more confident in my identity now.”

​

This difficulty in coming to terms with her identity stemmed from the language barrier she had with Spanish. One of the reasons she would refrain from telling others that she was Latina was because one of the first questions they would have for her would be if she could speak Spanish.

​

“It’s very interesting because you don’t feel valid, almost, until you can speak and understand the language.”

Domke finds pride in her identity now and has also become more curious about her background. She has also come to terms with both the positive and negative aspects of being of Latinx descent on Miami’s campus. She feels as though living in Oxford versus her predominantly white community she grew up in allowed her to become more in touch with both her Black side and Latinx side. But she has also realized that there are not many people on campus who look like her, and almost feels as though “...the Latin side is lacking.” She feels welcomed by both of her communities, but has yet to find a group that includes both of her identities.