Selena Quintanilla

Selena Quintanilla

If I were to have the pleasure to spend a day with a Latina past or present, the first person that comes to mind is Selena Quintanilla. She has been a role model to others for years and a personal favorite of my own. There is no doubt that she has changed not only the industry of music but the way the world viewed women. Selena became the first successful Tejano singer and helped open the doors to other female Latin singers. She has had a tremendous impact on my family and me. I have grown up listening to her music and fell in love with Tejano style of dance and song. We have made a tradition to watch her movie “Selena” at least once in the month of March, marking the anniversary of her death as a sign of respect. At a very young age, she has showed incredible amount of talent. Along with her marvelous singing ability she had a great sense of fashion, she began designing her own clothing at the age of 10 and was recognized for these outfits when she began wearing them on stage. Selena broke many records and showed everyone that she sings and dance just as well as men can and maybe even better.

There are many famous people today that Selena has impacted significantly who has followed after her footsteps or just looked up to her as an important figure. An example of one of these famous singers is Selena Gomez who was actually named after Selena Quintanilla and has been a fan her whole life. Another example of how Selena influenced today’s stars was Jennifer Lopez. The movie Selena starring Jennifer was the mark of the beginning of her career. Jennifer playing as Selena was her big break and many wonder where would Jennifer be without Selena. It is very often you will hear anyone in my family casually singing “Como la flor” in my house without us realizing we are singing it because her music has become part of our everyday lives. Our two favorite songs of hers will have to be “Como la flor,” and “Bidi Bidi Bom Bom,” which may have also been her most known songs. Selena Quintanilla will always have a major influence on me and the rest of the world and I will be proud to say that she will forever be a role model to me.