Written by: Emil Santos, Caminos al Futuro 2019
My name is Emil Santos, and I am a Mexican-American student from Rockville, Maryland. I am currently spending the summer in Washington D.C. as a part of the 4th Caminos al Futuro session. I live nearby and because of my proximity to this city, D.C. has often been a weekend day trip destination. My family and I would go out and spend some time at a national monument or a Smithsonian. In that sense, I am in a relatively familiar city. However, being on a college campus, away from home, and with fifteen other Hispanic students is a different experience entirely. The camaraderie we have developed for just a week is extraordinary. I can say with confidence that I am closer to these people then I ever could have imagined that I would be.
Initially, I was not sure what to expect from this program. I knew what it was about, for the most part, but I had no idea what the people would be like or how I would react to a college-like environment. After being here for a week, I can say that I’ve enjoyed every second of it. They afford us a great deal of freedom during our stay and some of my favorite moments with this group have been wandering through D.C. and having late-night conversations. Although there have been conflicts, at the end of the day we are all a little familia. Something that I have not had with any other group of peers so quickly.
On the academic side of things, our classes taught by Dr. Elizabeth Vaquera and Trey Johnston are designed to challenge us. They are extremely interesting and cover topics that impact the Latino and Hispanic community. We’ve been given numerous supplemental readings that have spoken to me on a level that few pieces of literature do. In addition to the core curriculum, they teach every day, they also invite speakers to come and discuss important issues facing the Latino community. Just today they invited Dr. Jordan West, the director for diversity and inclusion education at the George Washington University here in D.C., to come down and talk about the way the minority students are included on campus. She discussed the importance of not only having students of color on campus but also the cultivation of a university environment that values diversity and makes minority students feel welcomed. Another speaker we had come in today was Manuel Mendez, the president of the DC Afro Latino Caucus. He came to discuss the importance of personal identity for members of the Latino community. Since this is a college-like experience it is the perfect place to start cultivating our own identities, something that I haven’t given much thought to in the past.
Overall I feel like I’ve learned so much in such a short amount of time and I am excited to learn more, especially with a group and program as special as this one. I can’t wait to see how the next two weeks will go.
Emil Santos is a Caminos Al Futuro 2019 scholar. Emil’s views are his own and not necessarily reflective of the Cisneros Institute.