Zaida Rodriguez

Student

“There are a lot of negative ideas about what a Latina is and what she’s involved in. But we’re starting to become CEOs. We’re getting right up there.”

On the eve of her transfer to Cal State Fullerton, Zaida Rodriguez was reflecting on all that SMC has given her and other Latina women. “There are so many choices and opportunities open to us here. You find out that you don’t have to follow a closed-minded path: You don’t have to stay at home and have babies,” she says. “You can do a lot of great things for yourself.” Zaida adds that doing “great things” for others is also a big part of what being at SMC means.

“I work in the Outreach office, where we register high-school kids for classes that they get college credit for. This way, these kids get it in their minds that college is for them, and they get a big ‘step up’ when they come here to study.” Zaida, whose family came here from El Salvador, says that SMC is uniquely aware of the needs and desires of young Latinas in search of fulfilling professional careers. “You have all the resources here to let you become whatever you want to be,” says the future animator and graphic designer. “You just need to check in with some of the great counselors we have, like Maria Martinez,” she says.

“Maria is my counselor, and she actually graduated from SMC. She even had my job when she went here,” says Zaida with a laugh. “She’s been very inspiring and helpful to me. And she just came back from a conference where about 400 high-powered Latinas—from all the professions—got together to discuss what community colleges should be doing to reach people like me. But I’ve already accomplished so much here,” adds Zaida. “I’ve learned English, I’m graduating and transferring, and I’ll definitely be working for Disney some day. So I’d say that SMC is already reaching out to Latina students in all the right ways.”

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