Tag: diversity

“Oh Wellesley.”That’s a phrase I’ve said around campus since my first year. Whether you’re in a love it/leave it situation, remembering the good times or the challenging ones, Wellesley has a complicated place in my heart that I’m sure other universities occupy in other college students’ hearts.

Lately I’ve been taking advantage of the W Network and getting into contact with past alumnae who are now Speech Pathologists. They have been extremely responsive and nice, willing to offer advice about this chosen career path of mine and anything else I’ve wanted to know. And they always ask, “How’s Wellesley?” “Oh Wellesley,”I think to myself before replying.

I just finished my second week of my last spring semester at Wellesley before graduation and what I can say so far is that it is the same in some ways and that is both a good and a bad thing. Here’s an example to clarify my ambivalence: last Thursday, because I don’t get out of my Spanish seminar until 850pm, I rushed late into my MEZCLA meeting with the other members of the org’s political action committee. I discussed with them Wellesley’s history of diversity, specifically as that topic addresses Latinas on campus, our experiences.

We Latinas at Wellesley have all had different experiences. I cannot and will not glaze over those differences of what reality is for each individual but there are some facts to that history that I can share. One fact is that MEZCLA currently needs a space on campus. A space of our own.

Like any other college, and like any other college student experiences, no matter what school they select,there are stressors such as coursework/grad school/jobs/etc. that require a balancing de-stressor area where we can get our heads together. And Latinas specifically need a space where we can put our heads together to think of a way to combat the stressors affecting our community. Currently we are sharing a space on our campus with other students. We are working on getting that space of our own however. And until then, you as a potential student should know that truth just in case it is important to your decision.

I want you here (Latina or not), and that is why I share all of my positive experiences with you, posting descriptions and even photos. And if you are accepted, Wellesley wants you here too! But my greatest piece of advice is to ask the hard questions now. Think about what you need from your college.

Until then, MEZCLA has been my spiritual/social/political space. It’s a space that has been created by sound, vision, and other non-physical elements that don’t include a room or house of our own, as important as that is to us. My space is created by the voices of members welcoming me, the sight of our coming together to create change and all of the values that we together stand for.