A presentation was held that informed eight students on the struggles that undocumented Latina women face in pursuing higher education.

The presentation was held by professor Brenda M. Pulido on Thursday, April 21.

She began by introducing the research she has conducted after interviewing and speaking to several undocumented Latinas that were pursuing higher education.

In these findings she noticed that mothers play a major role, mothers are advocates for their children. They demonstrate resiliency and their daughters become aware of it and learn to fight for their goals as well.

Mariela a current student at Cerritos College also shared her experience and her struggles while pursuing higher education.

She mentioned that like for many other Latinas her mother also showed her that with perseverance anything is possible and today she is solely focusing on school.

Lastly Pulido’s dad made his presence known by representing a parent’s point of view on young children pursuing higher education.

He shared thoughts on his daughter, for example how he is really proud of her. He also gave all students advice in pursuing higher education, he told them to never give up noting that he knows it is not easy.

He shared how he has always loved school, but unfortunately due to personal circumstances he was not able to attend.

Today, he is a student at Cerritos College as well taking classes.

Elyza Morales, Natural Sciences major said, “The presentation was very informative, a lot of my friends tell me how their friends are undocumented and I thought about them.

“It inspires me to try harder, because I want to be a teacher I really want to be a role model for students whether they are documented or undocumented.

She continued, “When Pulido was talking about how one of the interviewee’s mom was pushing for her education it reminded me of my mom. It took me back to when I was in the principal’s office and my mom was pushing for me to be in the advanced classes. That led to me get transferred to advanced classes in middle school, till this day I still continue to push harder […].”

Pulido added, “I wanted to initially understand, because I saw a lot of my friends who did not make it and I also wanted to get a better understanding why it was very different for me. I

“I started listening to these women and think it was hard for me and I just could not imagine how much harder it was for them having legal barriers and racist barriers as well. Ultimately I wanted to create research that was centered in their voices, as women of color.”