Now that I’m a senior in college, I find myself reflecting on my life throughout the years at EMU. When I first came to college, everything was new to me, and I was trying to let myself become accustomed to what was about to become my home for the next four years. This was my dream, my parents’ dream, and the dream of every first-generation immigrant family. However, I was suddenly feeling lonely and out of place. 

At first I thought that it was the fact that I was on my own for the first time, or that I didn’t have my family close, but then realized that it was so much more than that. I found myself consciously looking for people who looked like me in every classroom. I found myself counting how many people of color there were in my classes. When I saw them I found a sense of relief; I felt less alone.

However, the feeling was brief because I felt so different and disconnected from everyone on campus. It was hard for me to find a place where I could feel comfortable, where the things that we talked about were relatable; this was the first time when being a Latinx woman felt heavy. 

Nevertheless, I had hope; I hoped that I was going to meet a group of people that would help me feel welcomed and that would help me fit in but this also seemed like an impossible mission. 

My first year at EMU was extremely challenging, and to make matters worse, my roommate, whom I thought was going to become my first friend, added to the difficulty of being a minority at a predominantly white institution (PWI). I come from an immigrant family. When I first came to EMU it had only been four years since I left my home country to come here, so I tried extra hard to stay connected with my family, to speak my first language. I was never chastised for speaking Spanish until I came to college. 

Sharing a room is difficult as it is. I was sharing a small space with a stranger but that was also my space, so I didn’t stop to think that it was wrong to speak my own language in my own room until my roommate reproached me for speaking Spanish in my own space, saying it was uncomfortable and that she didn’t like it. At that moment I felt like there was no place for me in this institution. I thought myself lucky for never experiencing racist comments or microaggressions until I came here. 

Nonetheless, over the years I’ve seen the efforts that EMU has put to make this place an institution that welcomes everyone no matter who they are or where they come from, and for that I’m grateful. I found people who I can call my friends and have made my experience at EMU a happy adventure.  There are many opportunities for us minorities to connect with other minorities and with everyone, but I’ve also found that I’m not the only one who has ever felt this way at a PWI.