Latino Heritage Month came to a close last Wednesday, and to continue the celebration of the Latino community on campus, Opinion Columnist Santiago Montanez Bertoletti talked with three Spanish-speaking students about the impact they hope to make in their careers.
Watch the special-edition Street Interviews video embedded on this page to see what they said!
As college students, the biggest decision we’ll make is what major to pursue – what we choose illustrates our values and our interests, and influences the rest of our college career and beyond.
What moved you to declare your major and NIU?
Mailyn Garcia, a junior communications major, loves to chat! She’ll be putting that bubbly trait toward helping members of the Latino community.
Q: “What is your favorite part of your career?”
A: “My favorite part would be that I can talk a lot because I like to talk a lot, and you find different ways of how to express yourself and help different people.”
Carolina Zambrano, a senior special education major, has a passion for helping and wants to improve representation for the Latino community in special education.
Q: “How do you think your major, and in general the Latino community, generates impact in the U.S.?”
A: “I think that special education doesn’t have many people of color, specifically Latino people, that don’t speak English or Spanish. For that reason, I wanted to be a part of a change and help immigrants that came to this country: the parents, and especially the students.”
Emma Alquicira, a junior elementary education major, also wants to provide representation in the classroom and use her career to remind students of their incredible worth.
Q: “What is your favorite part of your career?”
A: “I like to be a person who can teach children and help them with what they will do in the future.”
Q: “How do you think your major, and in general the Latino community, generates impact in the U.S.?”
A: “I think that’s what I’ve seen many times (lack of Latino representation in U.S. schools), and I want to be a teacher who looks like the students I’m going to have so that they see it is possible that they can do great things, and I want to be that for them for the future.”
