Guadalupe (Hopewell High School ’22) is pursuing an engineering degree at Eastern Mennonite University, where she is the driver for the Super-Mileage Car club. Watch and read her 2023 interview below, and see her share during Meet SLI – Richmond in 2021.
How do you think going to college will change your life?
I expect to have more opportunities [with a college degree]. Most of my siblings or even my parents did not finish high school, so they don’t have a GED or anything. My dad and my brothers all work construction, so it’s a heavy job, and I feel like they have worked a lot for me to have what I have right now. I expect that [my] opportunities will give me the economy to help them as well, give it back, because that’s what they did for me.
SLI was so helpful in general, because I was in Mexico my whole life, so when I came here I was not familiar with the educational system. It’s completely different. I didn’t know about the SATs or the FAFSA. The college application process was totally unfamiliar for me. None of my siblings or parents went to college, so they didn’t know how the process goes, either.
When I joined SLI they helped me through all those steps and also implemented other things, like writings. The writings were really hard, but these assignments prepared me for what we do here [in college]. So I can say that SLI is a really big factor on me getting to college and on me.
How old were you when you came from Mexico?
I was turning 15. I started freshman year, but I think it was because the school system is completely different. I think I took a year extra. I’m grateful for that because SLI accepts freshman students and I was a freshman there.
Going to college was always my goal ever since I remember. In elementary school I always wanted to go to college. My parents always supported that. When I was a little kid I really enjoyed doing math homework and stuff, but sometimes I didn’t have homework so I just put homework to myself and was working on my homework, and my mom was like, “Why would you do that? You have your all-free day, and you prefer to put yourself some homework?” I was like, “I don’t know, I just enjoy it.”
Now I hope for less homework.
I decided to come here [to EMU] because I was like I need a little independence now, because I am an adult already and if I would be really close [to home] they will probably still keep me like a little kid right there. Two hours and a half is not bad because I can drive whenever I want to come back.
I’m taking calculus, stats, experimental methods – a lot of physics and labs, and programming. I was the type of person that kind of wanted to do something but was scared of it, so I was like “No, at this point I have to join various things.”
What are some things you are involved in?
Super-Mileage Car is a club. I joined when I was a freshman and it was like only boys and just me, but they were really nice and they were like trying to explain me through the steps, or if I needed, they would assign me something and help me out with that, so it was really nice.
Since I’m the shortest one I am the driver. Being the driver is kind of like, “Oh, I have their entire project in my hands.”
In the fall we built this car and then in April we went to the competition. We passed inspection the second day I believe, and we got to the road, so that was something really fun. Now I decided to continue, to stick with it, and we’re going to do it again.
I am part of CAC (the campus activities council) and LSA, which is a Latino Student Alliance. I am a co-historian there. We usually just try to spread our culture and make some events that will be enjoyable for the school.
Even though it’s kind of stressful sometimes, I’m just trying to have this balance between my social life and my educational life, because if you concentrate more on one than the other, you probably will have a lot of stress and that’s not good.
Has college been surprising in any way for you?
I did not have an idea exactly of what I expected for college because I’m the first generation of my family, so nobody really told me about anything. We get to do a lot of fun things and even interact sometimes with the teachers and students, like we are all getting along together.
So it’s really nice, really comfortable.