Discovered

(dĭ-skŭv'ər)

tr.v.   dis·cov·ered, dis·cov·er·ing, dis·cov·ers 

1. To notice or learn, especially by making an effort: got home and discovered that the furnace wasn't working.

2.

     a. To be the first, or the first of one's group or kind, to find, learn of, or observe.

     b. To learn about for the first time in one's experience: discovered a new restaurant on the west side.

3. To learn something about: discovered him to be an impostor; discovered the brake to be defective.

4. To identify (a person) as a potentially prominent performer: a movie star who was discovered in a drugstore by a producer.

5. Archaic To reveal or expose

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/discovered

Explanation:

In the text, the word discovered is italicized. Not only did it grab my attention by the way it was typed, but also by the way Anna Lisa Raya was using it.

By using the word "discovered," Anna Lisa conveyed a strong message to me. She pointed out that she had never "discovered" who she really was

up until she entered college. To most people that seems bizarre, but in this situation she was forced to define her ethnicity. Another word like "learnt," would not

have done the sentence justice because Anna Lisa was never taught to think she was a Latina. She had discovered she was Latina through all her experiences upon

entering college.