College Reflection

Growing up in a Hispanic household has shaped and built my values in life. At Appleton North High School, I am one out of the few Hispanic students. Knowing that my parents have migrated to America to give me a better future has motivated me to make it happen. Although, as a Mexican-American, I have felt out of place as a minority. However, with time I learned to accept my cultural differences. In fact, to this day, I thank my widowed father for the sacrifices and greater opportunities he has given me. My goal is to keep representing the few Hispanic students in college by working hard to achieve my career goals; not all Hispanics are fortunate enough to attend college. I also work to inspire young Hispanics to find their potential and follow

Coming from a Latino household, I’ve learned that anything is achievable – there are no walls nor boundaries to stop me from reaching my goals. Whenever it came to achieving something in school, I could hear my father’s words “si se puede” – meaning “you can do it” – playing in my head. So long as I believed I could excel and go beyond in my studies, I felt that I could open doors of opportunities for myself.

The reason immigrant children have such far-reaching success is in large part due to our awareness. There is not a day that passes that I don’t see the effects of cultural poverty and lack of women’s education. My passion for success stems from my 1st generation immigrant upbringing.

The most important experience that has positively impacted my academic performance is being in AVID for the past 5 years. AVID is an acronym that stands for advancement via individual determination, a college preparatory class that helps prepare you for college, get organized, and set goals. I have been enrolled in AVID since 8th grade learning how to become a better student, improving study skills and the way I communicate with the students and teachers around me.

I already have ambitions to become president of a Hispanic fraternity on campus, whether it maybe Lambda Upsilon Lambda or Lambda Sigma Upsilon. As I venture through either of these fraternities, my main goal is to acquire a strong brotherhood, but simultaneously be able to create networks that will benefit myself in the future. Joining a Hispanic fraternity alongside volunteering and joining other clubs such as the Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting, will allow me to be able to embrace my Colombian heritage and allow me to achieve a sense of personal enrichment that I am looking for. My past experience in the work field exemplifies that I want to continue working and helping the Hispanic community. During my last semester of high school, I interned at a law firm named Susan Scheer Immigration Law in which it specialized in immigration law. At this internship, I not only sorted and organized files, but I also helped translate in interviews and documents that would later be presented in court. Continuing into my college career, I wanted to keep helping the Hispanic and Immigrant community progress. As a son of

Growing up as a Latino in a community where most of the population are Hispanic had made me blind, detached from the reality of the world and the reality of the college experience, especially in Santa Cruz. Looking at the world I have always known to an extent who had more privilege than others, special attention, and more rights. I have also vaguely known which groups have been treated with less respect seen as less, but all of this didn’t really seem to matter to me in my immediate world. Coming to Santa Cruz on trips such as ORALE and JUSTICE has made me see, made me realize that it does affect me, my family, and my community that privilege is something that isn’t gifted to us but which we fight for, which causes us to be looked at differently

Keeping in line with Marietta College’s statement on Diversity and Inclusion, it is important to map out a plan to make sure we are living up to the mission of the college. In order to fulfill this mission, it is necessary to have students from diverse backgrounds represented on campus. However, having students on campus is only one aspect of D&I work. Understanding the make-up of the college and the surrounding city, it is necessary to ensure these students have the support to be retained through graduation. In this effort, I propose the creation of a three part program that will assist in this effort. This plan will involve

The exponential growth of the Latina/o population is symptomatic of an unquestionable shift in the demographic landscape, and is also reflected in the demographic make-up of higher education. As of 2012, Latina/os constitute the largest ethnic/racial minority group in the United States (U.S. Census Bureau, 2012). Furthermore, Latina/o undergraduate students constitute the largest minority group on college campuses, at 19% of total students enrolled (Pew Research Center, 2014). Research also indicates that Latina/o students experience continued racial discrimination on college campuses (Chavez & French, 2007; Yosso, Smith, Ceja, & Solórzano, 2009; Cokley, Hall-Clark, & Hicks, 2011; Zeiders, Doane, & Roosa, 2012).

This semester I have grown as a student in the area of college readiness. This has allowed me to feel more planned for college. I have gained knowledge about college and how to prepare in order to be successful. In advisory we read a “college- going 101 timeline,” which provided steps on how to get ready for college. It gave me a list of procedures I can follow throughout high school. Some procedures it gave me where to; begin keeping a folder of important information, create a list of possible colleges to apply to, and attend a college fair.

Currently, we have yet to see adequate accommodations to Latinx culture within the public preparatory education system here in the U.S. Speaking on my behalf, I did not receive much enlightenment relative to this field as our history courses were simply focused on the founding fathers of our nation (and revolved around the American Revolution against the British.) In fact, it was until my undergraduate years here at the university where I enrolled myself as a Latinx/Mexican-American Studies minor and began to familiarize myself with my identity and the long history behind my culture. Even then, it has come to my attention that there are a select few universities that offer Latinx studies and courses similar to A&M’s. As a first-generation minority student enrolled at a pre-dominantly white institution, I can vouch for myself to say I carry a different perspective of the world that may differ than most of my peers due to my upbringing. Coming from a low-income community with inadequate resources and conditions, I found myself closely relating to the narrative that

For low-income students and minorities, their upbringing and their current socioeconomic status can and will factor into their perseverance and motivation due to the structural barriers they possess. Students’ of low-income families often come from working class homes who help their child to understand what their unavailability to balance work and go to school might be. Often times for minority and low-income students’ they reach an age (often times being the age of 18) in which they have to decide which path they will decide to take, take on work and go to school often times to support the family, or work full-time with the possibility of “growing within their work” with the basic knowledge they acquire once they graduate high school (assuming they do). The Los Angeles Youth is subdivided between the rich and the

I had the privilege to grow up in the city of Miami, a city where Hispanics are the majority. I consider myself lucky as I didn’t have the struggles most Hispanics face in other parts of the US. Although my family was not economically rich, I was rich because I was loved. My parents always supported my choices and taught me from an early age to have perseverance and kindness instilled within my heart. They taught me that there is no greater investment then that of knowledge and for that I needed to obtain a higher education.

The first time I went back home after coming to college was a rollercoaster of emotions. After arriving home I was embraced with open arms by my mom and dad. This was the first time I had seen them since being dropped off at college and I suddenly realized how much I missed them. I called every so often but being in my own home being able to talk and with them was something I hadn’t ever experienced. All of my worries about homework and future exams were gone and I got to enjoy the company of my parents. At the beginning of college I constantly felt like I couldn’t be myself. Coming home these feelings vanished because I was surrounded by those who loved me. After spending a few hours catching up, I went to reconnect with my high school friends.

Being born and raise in the small isle of Antigua, there are not a lot of job opportunities to unskilled workers. As I grew up, I practiced to excel in my entire subject areas and do my best in all that I chose to do and I ended out on top. At the age of four, although a young kid, I was being molded into what will become the refined me. During that period, it proved no significance to me what happens educationally. At that age, the

As the semester started, I had set my mind that I was destined to achieve a lot. During the start of the semester, I had several difficulties writing English assignments especially in terms of grammar. During the first week of the semester, I sat down, organized my thoughts and comprehended that throughout the semester, I had to achieve all that I had planned for. As a student of English, I had planned that throughout the semester, I had to improve my skills as a scholar, writer and critical thinker. Now that the semester has ended, I can reflect all the semester activities to depict how my writing skills and critical thinking skills have drastically improved. This paper presents a reflection paper of how this