Being a Latinx Student

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Whether it be internal or external, Latinx students are expected to achieve just as much or more than students of different ethnicities while attending college. Already a stressful change in an individual’s life, higher education also has its underlying impact on Latinx students. While simply hoping to continue their education, students have various other problems to deal with. Some of these problems include financial support, academic support, and emotional support.

One of the many issues that Latinx students face is lack of representation and support systems. Going to college is a daunting task for anyone signing up for higher education. Although an intimidating task for many, a majority of Latinx students face these tasks by themselves with no external support. Latinx students tend to be the first in their immediate family to go to college, making them first generation students. It’s difficult to navigate a setting when you have few people to turn to for support. Personally my parents do not have the English language mastered, and they do the best they can to help me in areas I do not understand. I remember specifically having a difficult time filling out my FAFSA . I had to translate the financial jargon into Spanish in order for my parents to help me out where they could. Many of my friends had an even harder time filling out the FAFSA because their parents were undocumented or they themselves were undocumented and could not receive financial aid. 

Latinx students that fall under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) have greater issues finding financial aid . DACA students in Arizona already face the many stressful factors of being undocumented, and they also face a very high cost of higher education. The State of Arizona does not consider DACA students as eligible for in-state tuition, making DACA students pay up to 150% of the rate for a resident. The public universities also offer in their majority scholarships that require citizenship. This makes the idea of going to college very discouraging, because many DACA students simply cant afford to pay the standard tuition rate let alone nearly double that. DACA students have to achieve high academically and personally in order to receive the few scholarships that are available to them.

I will never forget my freshman year orientation at the University of Arizona. I had come in as an undeclared major and was assigned a general advisor to go over my schedule. I remember I walked into the advisors office and they began to go over my entrance exam scores. The scores were not to their liking, and they asked me what high school I graduated from. I responded Sunnyside High School, which is a school on the southside of Tucson with a very large Latinx population. They said “oh figures, those types of schools never fair well, were you an ESL student growing up?”. I was kind of shocked at their comment and I felt very embarrassed and outed to be labeled as less than smart simply because of the school I went to. These are the types of discouraging comments that are said to at Latinx students. I wasn’t an ESL learner but so what if I was? I did go to school on the southside, but so what? The comments may seem minor to some but to me they were very discouraging in my continuation of school. 

Its interesting to note that Latinx students are more likely to show academic resilience and persistence . In an article by Naomi Noel Trevino and  Stacie Craft DeFreitas, they state “often display resilience and persistence which are important factors for intrinsic motivation and academic achievement.” (Trevino, 300). In the same article they point to a study that shows that Latinx students are more resilient even when facing other issues. The study explains “Latino students demonstrated resilience, by persisting and demonstrating strong effort towards their academic goals despite barriers such as limited finances and being new to higher education in general” (Cavazos et al. 2010). 

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That being said Latinx students can strive through the issues that they may face. The University of Arizona just received it designation of a Hispanic Serving Institution. This means that it serves a Hispanic a population of at least 25 percent. The goal of this designation is to bring more services to Latinx students. Although more resilient, Latinx students still face many issues such as a lack of support, inclusivity, and financial support. Specifically DACA students face greater hardships, especially receiving financial aid. It is up to Latinx students to come together and advocate for the members of our community. To strive for inclusivity, better services, and fight for instate tuition for DACA students, or the very least scholarship awareness for DACA students. These are issues should be discussed especially at the University of Arizona who is a Hispanic Serving Institution and has the honor of having a resilient population like the Latinx community and so many others.

Works Cited:

Cavazos, J., Johnson, M. B., Fielding, C., Cavazos, A. G., Castro, V., & Vela, L. (2010).    A qualitative study of resilient Latina/o college students. Journal of Latinos and Education, 9(3), 172–188.

Jandu. “Board of Regents Amends Tuition Guidelines for Migrant Students Living in Arizona.” The Daily Wildcat, 10 Sept. 2019, 
http://www.wildcat.arizona.edu/article/2019/09/n-daca-changes.

Trevino, N.N, and S.C DeFreitas. "The Relationship between Intrinsic Motivation and Academic Achievement for First Generation Latino College Students." Social Psychology of Education. 17.2 (2014): 293-306. Print.

University Communications. “UA Recognized for Service to Hispanic Students.” UANews, 19 Feb. 2018, https://uanews.arizona.edu/story/ua-recognized-service-hispanic-students.

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