Latino Student Voices On College, Culture And Identity

Although an Associated Press-Univision poll last year reported that 87 percent of Hispanics value higher education, Hispanic students comprise 12.7 percent of America's college graduates, according to the 2009 American Community Survey. Twenty-two percent of Hispanics have attended some college.

Many factors contribute to the gap between value and attainment, the AP reports -- money, familial duties, lack of support. And the challenges can continue once Latino students arrive at college. Finding a niche, and a cultural identity, can be difficult for Hispanics, as many college campuses don't reflect the diversity of America. As student Esteban L. Hernandez writes of his first day at the University of Colorado: "That first class was all adrenaline. I sat bewildered. I think I looked around the giant room more often than I did at the speaking professor. My eyes were probing for a familiar hue; I felt like the only brown face in a colossal room teeming with eager freshmen."

Below, read eight Hispanic students' stories of exploration and achievement at college. Do you have a story to share? Post it in the comments section.

1 of 8

Esteban L. Hernandez, University of Colorado

1 of 9

First Slide

Previous Slide

@

My parents, who immigrated to the United States from Mexico in the 1980s, never received the opportunity to attend college, so I relied completely on the stories of high school teachers to get a sense of how this college business worked. When the time came to utilize this knowledge, I stumbled. Read more...

10 College Profs And Faculty Behaving Badly

Grads strut their fashion

Academic Ranking of World Universities in Computer Science

The Most LEGENDARY College Pranks (PHOTOS)

The Best Lines From Commencement Speeches In 2012

Schools Investigating Or Reviewing Policies On Sexual Assault

My parents, who immigrated to the United States from Mexico in the 1980s, never received the opportunity to attend college, so I relied completely on the stories of high school teachers to get a sense of how this college business worked.

When the time came to utilize this knowledge, I stumbled. Read more...

comments(3)

Total comments: 3 | Post a Comment

1 of 9

Rate This Slide

Rank #2  |  Average: 4

Amazing Inspirational

• 
  1
• 
  2
• 
  3
• 
  4
• 
  5
• 
  6
• 
  7
• 
  8
• 
  9
• 
  10

Current Top 5 Slides

loading...

Choose your Top 5 Slides

UserName

 | Become a fan

Picked These as the Top 5 Slides in the Slideshow

loading...

Top User Slides

← Prev|Next →

 | Become a fan

Picked These as the Top 5 Slides in the Slideshow

loading...

Users who voted on this slide

← Prev|Next →

loading...

Comments

[aeliasm]

12:26 AM on 08/12/2011

Being homesick is one thing, but feeling discriminated against is another. As a college student I was fortunate to attend a university that did reflect my community--I was only 10 minutes away from home--now as a graduate student, and hours from my hometown, I understand the loneliness and feeling as though you don't belong. I agree that it's not just a Latino "thing," but do recognize that our educational system is not serving diverse populations as well as it could be. Sure, as Latinos, we have opportunities. Advocacy groups are in place to make sure we continue to have them. They remind us that there are many of us who are still being treated unfairly--current farm worker laws are an example of that. Need I say more????

[joeMet]

04:14 PM on 08/11/2011

The experiences these Latino college students relate doesn't sound much different that what most college freshman experience, no matter their color. I don't hear them saying that they have lived horrible lives of discrimination and lack of opportunity. Just the opposite.
We hear from the Hispanic advocacy groups that Hispanics in America lack opportunity and that, finally, now that their numbers are growing, their collective voices will be heard.
But, what exactly do they want given to them that they don't really already have? I'm not dismissing the lower economic status the average Latino experiences currently compared to the average white, but what I'm hearing from this meledy of Latino students is that family played a big part in their future goals and success, hard work played a big role, role models and mentors played a big part of their success, and staying out of trouble. They may have left it out, but none of them in my recollection said anything about being on wellfare, foodstamps - nada. Likewise, with the exception of one mention of a couple diversity acceptance issues, none complained about being harrassed or discriminated against or denied in any way, even at schools where the student population was overwhelmingly white.
There seems to be a real disconnect between the rhetoric coming out of Hispanic advocacy groups and these kids' experiences related here. It sounds like "2nd and beyond" generations of Latinos have stitched themselves into the American fabric quite nicely.

[mystshy]

12:58 PM on 08/11/2011

I WENT THRU THIS YRS AGO...AS A POLE,,,,,,,,,,,,,THE FACES CHANGE,, THE WORLD DONT....