In her own words
Jaquelin Hernandez-Martinez
As a first-generation Latina, it was inevitable that I would continue my education. When I first chose to pursue higher education, I was unsure of what field to go into. I had always been moved by the idea of being able to help my Latinx community but was unaware of how a college career would help me. Coming from a small town with a growing population of Latinx individuals, I quickly realized the barriers and difficulties that many Latinx families, like mine, face. This led me to pursue a higher education in Communication and Spanish with a concentration in Latin American Studies. In pursuing high education, my goal is to break the generational cycle that existed in my family. Something I want to stive for with my educational background is advocating for minority communities that struggle to receive resources and information. My goal is to focus on mental health advocacy as it is a topic that is not touched upon in many Latinx families, yet there is a continues growth of individuals suffering from mental health. Higher education is a stepping stool that will help me reach my goals because, although not often talked about, it is one of the most successful ways to create connections and obtain as much information about the world around us. A personal goal that I always keep in mind is my passion for helping out my home country, with furthering my education I hope to one day work internationally in order to provide mental health resources to Latin American countries, such as Mexico.