Noemi Beas,
La Familia Counseling Center

I am currently a second year freshman deciding between a career in either health care or education. I want to get a career in one of these fields because in either of these careers I will be able to help the Raza community. I want a career that will promote education for our gente and involvement in the community. Being involved in M.E.Ch.A., I have experienced many empowering situations which I feel all Raza students should have the opportunity to experience.

I have been involved in many marches ranging from: Farm workers Rights; SB1160; Taco Bell and other political issues. These marches are not always easy. In these marches we are often faced with harsh conditions like pouring rain in very cold temperatures. These kinds of marches that make you feel a part of something bigger and touch you as a human being and remind you of the struggle that we are all involved in. When the rain is no longer an issue and the freezing temperature that seeps into your body begins to feel like sunlight running down your face all you can think about is the lucha that your gente are in and the significances of your involvement. You become most aware of the positive energy around you and the hundreds of faces that are battling the same battle that you are, and at that very moment you are not a minority that is alone with no one to turn to, but you are one with your gente loud and empowered.

Many Raza students don’t experience these kinds of empowering situations, since most don’t graduate from high school. The ones that do often times drop-out of college or aren’t able to attend. The Raza community has the highest drop-out rate as well as the highest teen pregnancy. I, as a first time generation college student hold a responsibility to my family and my community to find ways in which to overcome and find solutions to the problems effecting our youth. Whether through health care, in which, I would help teenagers understand how the choices that they are making by not continuing with their education is affecting our community and how being a teenage mom is not easy, even if the father is by their side. I would help them also by educating them about safe sex and the consequences that STD’s will have not only on their personal life, but also on their bodies as well as their families.

Another way to reach teenagers would be through a career in education. Raza students would have someone to relate to and feel comfortable with. I see it all the time when the child only speaks Spanish and the teacher cannot understand them. I would make the Raza students feel special because who wouldn’t want a teacher that shares the same language and cultura as themselves. Education is a very powerful tool and I think that our books can take us farther than anything else. Another issue that Raza is facing is many aren’t holding onto their first language and culture. We are losing the importance of family and the knowledge of our parents and grandparents. We aren’t thinking any longer about our past, but instead focusing on the future. We must start to embrace our culture again and hold it sacred as it once was, in order for our future to have importance. 

Cultura and a greater appreciation for it, is what Raza professors can provide for their Raza students. We can give them back the confidence that they are lacking. We can start to share our own Raza history and the famous writers, artists, and leaders that are in our communities. We can be proud of our identity and no longer feel like an outsider.

Claudia Curiel,
Noralto Elementary

Education has never been a choice, but an opportunity for me. I am a Mexican American woman who has had to face many challenges to achieve my career goals and objectives. Growing up as a migrant child and working in the rich agricultural fields of California’s Central Valley, I always knew that there were better opportunities for people like myself. That opportunity came through Education.

I decided to become a teacher for many reasons, but one that sticks out in my mind is the ability to make change through knowledge and leadership. During my experience as a classroom teacher I realized the need to receive my Masters Degree. Through my experience as a teacher, my career goals and objectives were shaped.

I taught in a low income school with a high percentage of Latino children with limited English skills. I had many children who came into my classroom with numerous reading difficulties due in part to their limited English language skills. As many educators say, “in the primary grades children learn to read, in the upper grades children read to learn.” Unfortunately, many Latino children in California and throughout the nation, are falling short when it comes to reading success because they don’t learn to read efficiently in the primary grades. This trickles down throughout the years until they become frustrated and unmotivated to learn because of their inability to read. By the time these children get to high school many of them decide to drop out, thus increasing the dropout rate among Latinos.

For these reasons, I decided to pursue my Masters Degree in Education with an option in curriculum and instruction and an emphasis in reading /language arts. I will also be receiving my reading certificate for Title I schools. I see various needs for Latino leaders in education. From educational policy to curriculum design, it is imperative for policy makers as well as school district leaders, to bring about change for the increasing number of English language learners entering California public schools. I want to someday be the voice not only as a Latina leader but also as an educator who strives for excellence in school curriculum and practices in the area of Reading/Language Arts for English Language Learners.

Upon receiving my Masters Degree I plan to teach for a few more years to gain more experience in teaching and expertise in the foundations of student learning, curriculum and instructional strategies within the classroom setting. At the same time, I want to continue to serve as a leader in the school community. Eventually I would like to work for the California State Department of Education and work in the area of reading instruction and second language learners. I believe these two areas are extremely important and where further research can be done to create even better outcomes for English language learners in California!

Tatiana Reinoza,
California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation

I was born in El Salvador in 1981. I moved to the United States at the age of six. I graduated from Florin High in Sacramento. Since 1999, I have been studying at CSU, Sacramento, majoring in Art, working in the fields of sculpture, painting and video. I am very interested in the relationship between art and activism, as well as art and social responsibility.

My educational goals are aimed at my professional development as an artist and art curator. I will be graduating in the Fall of 2004 and would like to pursue a Master of Fine Arts in the Fall of 2005. Eventually, I would like to start a non-profit art center with a community-based educational art programs.

As a Student Leadership Intern for the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation I will work under the supervision of Juanita Ontiveros, who is a long-time cultural and political activist and has been fighting for the basic rights of fieldworkers for the last three decades. My particular assignment will involve the planning, programming and implementation of the annual Cultural Encounters Festival in Northern California, which connects art and music with the celebration of cultural diversity and promotes civic engagements in the immigrant communities. This constitutes a tremendous opportunity for me to receive a grassroots training and leadership skills working under Juanita Ontiveros, who worked closely with Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers movement. It will also allow me to research the connections between art, activism and social responsibility in the furthering of a democratic society.

Margarita Marquez,
La Familia Counseling Center

Currently I am pursuing a master's degree in the field of social work. I am completing my internship hours at La Familia Counseling Center, Inc. where I provide clinical therapy to children ranging from ages between 5 and 21.

Currently I have a case load of 4 clients dealing with issues surrounding an absent father, blended family issues, schizophrenia and grief. I enjoy working with these families and have developed vital clinical skills which have allowed me to develop professional working relationships with my clients and their families.

I hope to further my skills by continuing my education regarding the various issues that children and families undergo. I hope to further my proficiency in the Spanish language as this will additionally enhance my ability to work with the Latino clientele. I hope to always work with minority individuals as they are evidently the underserved and underrepresented. It is obvious that there are not enough clinical therapists who posses the necessary skills, i.e., Spanish language, knowledge of Latin culture and family system, to work effectively and competently with diverse Latino families.

I hope to continue my educational development by consistently seeking out culturally competent educational training, which address diverse cultural issues. In terms of my professional educational goal of obtaining a doctorate degree in social work, I hope to focus on researching issues that are pertinent to people of color, develop culturally sensitive programs, systems and literature addressing the vital and specific issues affecting underserved and underrepresented people. Obtaining a doctorate degree will enhance my ability to research and practice social work at an international level, hopefully influencing government policy change as well.

A personal goal is to travel the world and I have not seen a better way to do this than by contributing to the development of international issues utilizing my educational and professional background.

Carolyn Rose,
La Familia Counseling Center

My career goal is to open up an agency and develop a program that will provide services for a culturally diverse target population of young people ranging from school-age to young adults. My objectives to reach this goal include completing my Masters degree in Social Work by May 2005 at California State University , Sacramento and getting the Clinical Licensed Social Worker (LCSW) license. One month prior to graduation, I will submit the paperwork required for licensure so that I can begin to collect the needed time and hours to be an LCSW. I plan to complete the hours needed for the LCSW license while working in the field of social work at the California Youth Authority (CYA).

After obtaining the LCSW license, I will begin the process of acquiring the funds and collaborative network with community support to open an agency to run the program that I have in mind. My agency will provide the target population with services similar to a Boys & Girls club. However, the outcomes of my program will surpass that of a Boys & Girls club because it will have a therapeutic component that would address and help the young people work through the acting out behaviors that would have gotten them sent home or suspended from the traditional Boys & Girls club setting.

The agency will have a very dedicated, diverse staff with the professional knowledge to help the target population being served to be successful and to gain the tools and knowledge to be able to work around any behavioral disabilities or other factors that are impacting their lives. Due to the rise in young people from very diverse backgrounds being labeled with many different behavioral disabilities and dysfunctions, there is a need for ensuring that the young people have a chance to overcome the labels of society and have the success they deserve.

I come from a very diverse background. I was not able to experience many of the cultural traditions of my diverse background as I grew up. I have tried to get in touch with as much knowledge of my different cultures through my life. My cultural background from both of my parents includes: Mexican, Korean, Native American, African American, and Irish. I feel that with such a diverse background I owe it to my children and myself to learn and experience as much as possible of all of my different cultures.

With the Student Leadership Initiative internship, I feel that I finally have the chance to benefit from the experience. The educational significance of the internship will greatly benefit my family and myself, as I will have the opportunity to get more exposure and knowledge of my Mexican roots that I got from my father through working with the population. I will be able to embrace and learn more about the real social and cultural factors that affect many diverse cultures of my background. I now have a chance to make a difference in the lives of the youth and families I will be working with. In turn I can pass on any cultural knowledge that I gain from the experience on to my children so they too can benefit from my Student Leadership Initiative experience. This is a great chance for me to give back and for me to gain from an experience while learning about some of my cultural background that I so want to embrace to help me understand more about who I really am.