Seven female foreign exchange students gathered in the Anatol Center, recounting their experiences and how different their lives were from Cal State Long Beach students.
The Chicano/Latino studies department and Mexico’s National Association of Universities and Higher Education Institutions (ANUIES) hosted a ceremony for the students completing the six-week course. Professor Armando Vazquez-Ramos presented certificates of recognition to key individuals of the CSULB staff for their support of the program, and to Ana B. Uribe from the University of Colima and Ana E. Briones, program coordinator from the Autonomous University of Nayarit.
Even with only about 20 attendees, there was a strong sense of companionship between the exchange students and the CSULB staff. The recipients expressed gratitude for taking part in the exchange program.
“We are so thankful. We learned to see the human side of the research,” said Ana Gabriela Gonzalez, a senior psychology major from the University of Guadalajara.
Before the project, they did not really know each other but now they share a feeling of responsibility to tell their peers about their experiences in Mexico. They were eager to say this program has brought them closer together, allowing them to dorm and attend classes together at CSULB.
Though they visited the United States on occasion with their families, this visit was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. While enjoying their stay at CSULB, they also felt the pressure of attending classes and keeping up with their studies.
The differences in student life, particularly in the classroom, impressed them, and they said it was amusing to see how obedient CSULB students were when a professor came into a room and easily silenced the class.
The researchers presented an analysis of 225 people in Spanish. They demonstrated understanding of the harsh reality many migrant students live in California. Part of the research investigation included conducting interviews and study groups with students from Mexico’s states of Colima, Guanajuato, Aguascalientes, Michoacan, Nayarit and Jalisco.
The ANUIES and CSULB exchange program has impacted their lives, allowing them to witness how other immigrants live, said Yaneli E. Aguayo Lopez, a senior political science major at the Autonomous University of Nayarit.
For all seven of them, it was an emotional roller coaster, from getting settled at CSULB and setting up their e-mail accounts, to having personal contact with immigrant students and youth who work in vineyards, and meeting students who live through racial discrimination.
“We lived the reality as a student and all the problems the immigrants live here. We get to leave but they have to stay. This was a turning point in my life. I’ve changed,” said Christian Guadalupe Cota, a senior communications major at the University of Nayarit.
The women confessed that they did not expect how expensive education was in the U.S. and have found a new appreciation for the education they receive at the universities in Mexico. They found that financial hardship and a lack of self-motivation is critical for emigrated students to decide on going to college.
The young scholars were led in their fieldwork by Uribe, who stressed the importance of social investigations, according to the educational needs of migrant students, especially from universities such as CSULB.