San Antonio, Texas (CNN) -- The case of the New Mexico hotelier who required Latino employees to adopt English names and avoid speaking Spanish at work reminds us of the need for balance as we grapple with cultural evolution in America. Many of us take our name and its pronunciation for granted. I imagine I did too -- until I was 5 years old. That's when my dad dropped me off on the front porch of Sunnyside School in Brownsville, Texas, the border town where I was born and raised. Like any kid on his first day of school, I was engulfed by longing and loneliness, staring forlornly at my dad through the screen door as he walked away.
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Hotel owner who asked workers to take English names sparked a memory for Rudy Ruiz
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He says his teacher changed his name when he was 5 years old
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Ruiz says he kept Spanish pronunciation for his last name
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Key to adapting to a different culture is balance and empathy, he says
Sunnyside School
She ran @placeholder in a modest house she'd once called home.
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By the end of the school year I was fluent in @placeholder.
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That quick change-up from @placeholder to Spanish when pronouncing my brief, four-syllable name stopped me in my tracks more than a few times, causing my cheeks to flush with embarrassment at the struggle of pronouncing the name I had not chosen in the way I had chosen.
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On the flip side, translated entirely into @placeholder it can give the impression that one is trying to hide his or her heritage, that perhaps the past is a source of shame rather than pride.