I chose to attend Medgar Evers College because I felt the size of the campus was perfect for me. The faculty was extremely helpful, I enjoyed the classes I registered for, and I already knew what I wanted to major in. However, I always felt a bit out of place since I was among the very few Latinos in the school. Whenever I answered questions about my background, I would get remarks like "wow, I thought you were just a plain white girl". I felt I always had to be very careful when stating my opinions to certain matters during class discussions, because I feared that I would be accused of being racist or favoring one ethnic group over the other.

     During my first semester, I took a freshman seminar course that required everyone to choose and write about a newspaper article. I always chose articles that dealt with issues affecting the Latino community. One day I was picked to read my essay out loud. After reading my essay on a hate crime against a Latino boy, one student raised her hand and remarked, "that isn't half as bad as the hate crimes against black people". Afterward, she began to read her essay on the rape and murder of a black single mother. Instead of allowing a longer discussion on my topic, the professor went into a long lecture on crimes against the black community. After such experience, I began to wonder whether or not I should stay or transfer to a school I would feel more comfortable in.

   I chose to stay mainly because I was too scared to transfer to a completely different college. I must also give credit to my stubborn personality which doesn't allow me to back out of a situation just because it is unfamiliar and far from my comfort zone. My decision to stay has not been regretted, for I now find myself part of a Latin American studies club that allows me to learn and express my thoughts and feelings about certain issues affecting my people. Being an active member has helped me grow in both my academic and personal life.

     It wasn’t until the second semester of my sophomore year that I was informed about the club by the faculty advisor. Initially, I feared I wouldn’t fit in with the other members, because at that time I felt so out of place in any group I tried to affiliate myself with. I also knew I wouldn’t give them a chance to become a significant part of my life. I had a long history of drifting away from one or several people, after getting to know them for a set period of time. Fear of not being accepted made me believe that I couldn’t be myself around anyone. Luckily, this was a Latino club which meant that it consisted of people who dug their way into your life, in a good way of course. I began to see that these were people who shared an unconditional bond with one another by the way they supported each other, whether with academic or personal issues. I wanted to be part of that bond, so I slowly but surely began to open up, attend meetings, and events.

     After one semester, I was appointed secretary of ALAS. This position helped me to develop my organization, writing, and interpersonal skills. Creating flyers for our events brought out talents in me that I never knew existed. Consequently, there was a highly noticeable boost in my self-confidence. Not only did I begin to show more passion for ALAS, I began to go beyond what was expected from my professors in terms of assignments/projects. Though some may consider my perfectionism to be rather obsessive, I consider it to be both a blessing and a curse. It has helped me to take on and complete more tasks than I ever thought imaginable; however, the fact that I obsess over every little detail within a project can sometimes affect how I prioritize if I’m not careful.

     During the end of the spring 2009 semester, I was elected to be president of ALAS. I entered this position with great fear of failing in terms of my attempts to bring forth growth and progress in how the club reached its mission and goals. Though I had numerous ideas of how we could promote and support cultural diversity on campus, I had doubts in how effective they would be, as well as whether or not the other members would approve. Furthermore, I felt that my inability to make decisions on my own would slow down the process of reaching these goals. Needless to say, I was completely wrong on the outcome of my input.

     Consulting with everyone in ALAS during our biweekly meetings about events has been one of my most favorable moments as president, for we vote on everything prior to making any final decisions. Having felt so powerless for the majority of my life due to having to conform to so many rules, I felt lucky to be part of a group that shared one voice, one mission, and one dream. No ideas are turned away without fully exploring the possibilities, which is why everyone feels that they can freely express themselves. Overall, being both a member and president of the ALAS club has been for me a transformative experience that has helped me to grow and develop in unforeseen ways. I am a vastly different person today than I was just two short years ago and I owe the majority of this change to ALAS.