M.E.:

For Marlen Vasquez, attending college was a transformative experience through which she learned to question extant social structures and reconnect with her Latina heritage. In this essay, Vasquez recounts two undergraduate experiences that transformed her worldview, renewed her sense of cultural pride, and allowed her to move beyond previous schooling experiences characterized by shame and a yearning to “fit in.”

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Marlen Vasquez is a high school reading and writing teacher for Making Waves Educational Program (MWEP), a youth educational and social empowerment group in Richmond, California. Her teaching methods are informed by critical pedagogy theory, and she focuses on helping students negotiate the tensions between their community and institutional educational experiences through reading and writing. Prior to joining MWEP, Vasquez worked for the Stockton Unified School District as a long-term substitute teacher at both Franklin High School and Van Buren Elementary School.