Anna Cecilia F.
In the beginning of the year, I met many friends through my major. Throughout the year as I joined clubs, I made friends with people outside of my area of study and bonded through shared interests like speech, music, and activism. I knew that there were areas of my life that I needed to participate in no matter where I went to college. The first priority for me was finding a group that had to do with my cultural background. Through Mecha, a Mexican-American political union, I found peers who were interested in advocacy and were also looking to unify the Latine community on campus. My interest in music led me to Mariachi on campus where I found friends that really grounded me and brought me back to a fun environment when school became overwhelming.
Moving from my hometown was really bittersweet for me. Santa Ana, California, is an incredibly culture- and community-rich place that I did not think I would find anywhere else. The city is predominantly low-income and Hispanic so when I moved to Cornell, I felt a culture shock. I found myself using the values and quirks of my hometown to create home at college. I cook Mexican food for my friends, voice my opinions with passion, and remain unapologetically myself, which are all values that I learned from my hometown. As I navigate through my classes and take space in academic environments, Santa Ana inspires me to continue to fight for underrepresented groups.
Introduction to Latinos in US History taught by Professor María Cristina García reignited my passion for learning when I felt like I was in an academic slump. The class was taught in a comprehensive and digestible way to the point where I never felt like I constantly needed to jot down information because I was absorbing all of the information. Too often, Latina/o/e history in the US is brushed past in our K-12 education; having Professor Garcia teach about every group of Latin America in great detail through lectures on migration, climate change, and discrimination in the US created a well-rounded course. This class was also presented almost like a story hour in which every lecture took me out of the classroom environment and allowed me to imagine the scenery our professor would describe. While it had a large class size, on the last day, the professor asked us what we wanted to know about the history of Latinos in the United States or what she believed would happen in the future within the community. It was refreshing to hear people's genuine interest in the history during this course and made me feel represented as a Latina student.
I plan on going to law school after graduation. My current focus is international politics (mostly Latin America) and I hope to use my undergraduate coursework to pursue international law in whatever capacity that I can. I've imagined various routes that public policy could take me and while my future is very much subject to change, international affairs have always piqued my interest.
I adore studying in Martha Van Rensselaer! For the most part, it is quiet on the weekends and has a ton of whiteboards which are helpful when I need to write out my thought process. Martha's, the cafe located inside, is also so convenient for daytime coffee trips. Another plus is that when you need a change of scenery, the AG Quad is a minute walk away. I like to study with my friends and step outside for air every once in a while.
In the beginning of the year, I met many friends through my major. Throughout the year as I joined clubs, I made friends with people outside of my area of study and bonded through shared interests like speech, music, and activism. I knew that there were areas of my life that I needed to participate in no matter where I went to college. The first priority for me was finding a group that had to do with my cultural background. Through Mecha, a Mexican-American political union, I found peers who were interested in advocacy and were also looking to unify the Latine community on campus. My interest in music led me to Mariachi on campus where I found friends that really grounded me and brought me back to a fun environment when school became overwhelming.
Moving from my hometown was really bittersweet for me. Santa Ana, California, is an incredibly culture- and community-rich place that I did not think I would find anywhere else. The city is predominantly low-income and Hispanic so when I moved to Cornell, I felt a culture shock. I found myself using the values and quirks of my hometown to create home at college. I cook Mexican food for my friends, voice my opinions with passion, and remain unapologetically myself, which are all values that I learned from my hometown. As I navigate through my classes and take space in academic environments, Santa Ana inspires me to continue to fight for underrepresented groups.
Introduction to Latinos in US History taught by Professor María Cristina García reignited my passion for learning when I felt like I was in an academic slump. The class was taught in a comprehensive and digestible way to the point where I never felt like I constantly needed to jot down information because I was absorbing all of the information. Too often, Latina/o/e history in the US is brushed past in our K-12 education; having Professor Garcia teach about every group of Latin America in great detail through lectures on migration, climate change, and discrimination in the US created a well-rounded course. This class was also presented almost like a story hour in which every lecture took me out of the classroom environment and allowed me to imagine the scenery our professor would describe. While it had a large class size, on the last day, the professor asked us what we wanted to know about the history of Latinos in the United States or what she believed would happen in the future within the community. It was refreshing to hear people's genuine interest in the history during this course and made me feel represented as a Latina student.
I plan on going to law school after graduation. My current focus is international politics (mostly Latin America) and I hope to use my undergraduate coursework to pursue international law in whatever capacity that I can. I've imagined various routes that public policy could take me and while my future is very much subject to change, international affairs have always piqued my interest.
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