My Experience With The Chicano Students Program

Dreams are shaped by ideals and families shape the beliefs we grasp strongly. The sacrifices and struggles of my family and I are what have shaped me to be the person I am today, therefore i have dedicated my path as a first generation Hispanic student to my family.

This paper will try to explain the variety of hardships many Mexican-American students endure in hopes to gain a higher education. Many are driven by the “American Dream”, which is the idea that individuals living in the U.S. have the equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and abilities. The American Dream often motivates foreigners to enter the United States illegally, hoping for that “equal opportunity” to success. However, not everyone living in the U.S. has equal opportunities, compared to native-born American citizens. This is why it can be difficult for Mexican-American students to attend colleges and universities. A higher education is difficult to obtain for Mexican-American students because of their low socioeconomic status, their differing cultural and structural characteristics, and the social and political institutions in our current society. Although this paper does not focus on the educational opportunities in Mexico, this paper will mostly focus on the educational system in the United States, particularly California State University, San Bernardino. In addition, this paper will refer to Mexican-American students as first-generation college students.

During the late sixties and early seventies, a Mexican - American movement was taking place in the United States, The Chicano movement. This movement takes place because of the Mexican American society 's suppression in the country. Indeed, during the years, 1966 to 1981 was a period where the Mexican American society was looking for equality and justice from the Government of the United States. In fact, they will start to organize their own communities, where the Government will accept their new ideas. David Montejano, “a historian and sociologist, and Professor of Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley,” wrote about that movement that helps the Mexican - American society being part of the United States. One of his books is Anglos and Mexicans in the Making of Texas, 1836-1986, where he describes the relation that the Anglo and the Mexican American people have in those years. In the same way, he wrote Quixote’s Soldiers: A local history of the Chicano Movement, 1966 - 1981, where he describes the Chicano movement as a way of helping the Mexican American community. By describing the Chicano Movement and the political changes made in San Antonio, Montejano relates the problems of equality and justice, the organization created at that time, and the consequences of this movement.

The current trend in lack of Latina/o students attending college combines a lack of college readiness with a deficiency in resources to prepare this student population. More and more higher education scholars are accepting these deficiencies as roadblocks to college access, and are looking to preparation programs and parent educational resources as a subject worthy of consideration. There are many different challenges being faced by this population, a population that is according to Oliva and Nora, “the fastest growing minority population in the country”(Oliva & Nora, 2004). Research shows that “less than 43% of Hispanic high school students are qualified to enroll in 4 year institutions”(Saunders & Serna, 2004). With the rapid growth in

At that time there were a Chicano Movement which also called the Chicano Civil Rights Movement and that’s for Mexican American educational, social, and political equality rights in the United States, which also students originations played an important role in that movement and if we focused more in education we will find that many Mexican-American have no option but to accept the unfair rules at schools like Terry the little girl.

The Chicano community has endured and overcome many struggles since the conquest by conquistador in 1491 and eviction from Atzlan. Race was used by the white community as tool to structure inequality for the Chicano community by classifying the Chicano community as white but treat them as a minority community. Chicano activist during the Mexican American generation found community self-determination by becoming actively involved in their community and taking hold of their own destiny. The Mexican American activists created a new way of seeing themselves by taking the term Chicano and making the term a symbol for who they truly are and who they want to become. The new ethos of the new identity of a Chicano is community

When I was in elementary, I was taught that Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas, and he was painted as a great explorer. It was not until my sophomore year of high school when I took Chicano Studies from Los Angeles City College, that I realised that the picture I had was not complete. The Chicano Studies class opened my eyes to see how sugar coated the history I learned growing up. Learning how marginalized group’s story is not told, made me want to get involved with those who do not have a voice. I had been involved in our local community clinic at the encouragement of my parents, but it was not until I took the class that I realized how important the work really was. Recently my immigration Health Care committee teamed up with other

The Chicano movement was a movement that inspired thousands of Mexicans and Mexican-Americans to boldly take a stand against discriminatory oppression. For years, the Chicano movement fought for Mexicans’ rights. However, the movement failed to recognize that its women were an oppressed group that also needed to be heard by the gringos and their system. The women were oppressed triply through race, class, and gender. Chicanas not only had to fight the American system that worked against colored minorities, but they had to fight to earn respect from Chicanos whose traditional machista mentality hindered the movement altogether. Women were a central part to the Chicano movement that aided in the movimiento’s success. Although Chicanas fought

Identity is who someone is and the condition of having exceptional recognizing attributes held by no other individual or thing. Protest is an expression or assertion of protest, dissatisfaction, or dispute, frequently contrary to something a man is frail to anticipate or keep away from. The Chicano Movement has been utilized by students of history to depict a minute of ethnic strengthening and protest among Americans of Mexican plummet starting in the 1960s.

Personal Statement What I think of myself and what I hope other see in me is a humble, enthusiastic, and hardworking young women who values education, has a passion for community service and sports, and has a drive for helping minority groups. My traits and values were very much influenced by my parent and older brother. Both of my parent are from Guerrero Mexico. They have always taught me to embrace my culture. I have always been an advocate for the Latino community but also for minority groups in general.

I think young people across the United States are and will continue to form coalitions to push for the rights of young people. The undocumented youth movement, for instance, has overwhelming support by the entire nation. The children of immigrants born in the United States of America often support undocumented people in this country. Even though they themselves have the privilege to have been born in this country their own parents may be residing in this country without proper documentation. Also a lot of folks that are in this country “legally” have helped undocumented folks because they may be friends, family, co-workers, classmates, etc. They have also formed coalitions with other similar groups around their city, state and the country in

Growing up has not been easy, but it’s a part of life we all go through, Like in the Disney Movie Meet the Robinsons you need to “Keep Moving Forward”. In Life we have to take challenging Obstacle courses that are not so easy but it helps us in life. One challenging obstacle course that we take is school, to be exact High school. In high school to get to the top you have to fail because from failing you learn, because you learn from your mistakes and “Keep Moving Forward” and you do your best to do a better job the next time. From success not so much because you are not learning anything out of it. Vista del lago students are required to learn special goals known as Expected school- wide learning Results known as (ESLRS).

After reading Chapter Three of Valencia’s “Chicano School Failure and Success,” I was surprised about how unsupportive the data was regarding Chicano/a and Hispanic student success and their family’s socioeconomic status. Valencia does note there is some data that supports how big a role socioeconomic status has in student dropout rates, yet there is also data that suggests it does not play as large of a role as previously thought or even is a factor altogether. This really took me back, as I am a big supporter to the theory that socioeconomic status is directly tied to modern student success, and that race is a subsection of the socioeconomic struggles people face which has arisen over time.

In the 1960’s the Chicano community undertook a unique, dramatic, and multifaceted social struggle of affirmation. This historic phase became more and more varied and complex then previous struggles (Maciel, 2010).

Through my leadership experiences at SCSU, I have grown into a strong, independent, and courage woman. This past spring semester, I took the opportunity to apply and be accepted to present at M.E.Ch.A.’s national conference about my independent studies course that I developed. I never imagined to share my cultural experiences on that level and have professors comment afterward about how they enjoy my presentation. There have been opportunities where I was able to discuss with administrators among other students and our concerns on campus issues facing students of color directly to them. I have met strong, academic leaders and students at conferences that have exposed me to love and embrace my cultural identity, indigenous roots, femininity, strength, and personal struggles. The education program gave me the opportunity to continue learning in another location for student teaching, which again has exposed me to new experiences, people, environments, and academic challenges. I no longer view challenges as obstacles, rather I view them as tests to help me remember how worth it, the path I am on and pursing, is to me. When I first started my freshman year in fall 2012, I could have never imagined that I would do and come as far as I have. I remember when I began this journey, I said to myself that I would graduate