Spring Break
Latina students reflect on their education
Panel discussion raises awareness of difficulties faced by Latina women in American education
Claudia Lozano
Issue date: 3/6/08 Section: News
Monday marked the start of a series of events for "Women's Herstory Month" with a panel discussion on Latina students in the United States education system. The panel, hosted by the WAGE Center, featured Latin American studies coordinator Eva Santos-Phillips and three students, junior Maria Paulina Duarte Hernandez, sophomore Celismarie Ortiz and junior Liliana Meza.
Gender was given a special emphasis during the discussion, as students explained how Latinas have been affected by their relationship with classmates and teachers.
Stephanie Zighelboim, student services coordinator for the Office of Multicultural Affairs and professor of Latin American studies, said the event was helpful to raise awareness on the difficulties that Latina women face in the American education system and how they are able to overcome these difficulties.
All three students talked about their experiences when they first came to the United States.
Ortiz was born in Connecticut, but has Puerto Rican heritage. She said at a young age she spoke English and Spanish, but up until third grade was placed in the English as a Second Language program.
"They assumed I couldn't speak English," she said.
When she was in fourth grade, Ortiz moved to Florida where things changed. She had a Hispanic teacher who taught in Spanish and English. Ortiz said that as she got older, speaking Spanish became a big advantage.
"At first (speaking Spanish) was a negative thing and later on it became a positive thing," she said.
Duarte Hernandez came to the United States when she was 9 years old and started in fourth grade while her brother was in first grade. She said for her first two to three years in the country she didn't do homework and was ignored by her teacher.
She was also placed in the ESL program but said it wasn't much help either, as students would speak in Spanish.
When Hernandez got to middle school, she dropped her ESL classes and started to do homework and learn more English. She said her accent was heavier when she started to learn the language, but her brother didn't have as much trouble because he started in first grade.
Gender was given a special emphasis during the discussion, as students explained how Latinas have been affected by their relationship with classmates and teachers.
Stephanie Zighelboim, student services coordinator for the Office of Multicultural Affairs and professor of Latin American studies, said the event was helpful to raise awareness on the difficulties that Latina women face in the American education system and how they are able to overcome these difficulties.
All three students talked about their experiences when they first came to the United States.
Ortiz was born in Connecticut, but has Puerto Rican heritage. She said at a young age she spoke English and Spanish, but up until third grade was placed in the English as a Second Language program.
"They assumed I couldn't speak English," she said.
When she was in fourth grade, Ortiz moved to Florida where things changed. She had a Hispanic teacher who taught in Spanish and English. Ortiz said that as she got older, speaking Spanish became a big advantage.
"At first (speaking Spanish) was a negative thing and later on it became a positive thing," she said.
Duarte Hernandez came to the United States when she was 9 years old and started in fourth grade while her brother was in first grade. She said for her first two to three years in the country she didn't do homework and was ignored by her teacher.
She was also placed in the ESL program but said it wasn't much help either, as students would speak in Spanish.
When Hernandez got to middle school, she dropped her ESL classes and started to do homework and learn more English. She said her accent was heavier when she started to learn the language, but her brother didn't have as much trouble because he started in first grade.
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