Mi Voz, Mi Vida, Latino College Students Tell Their Life Stories. Edited by Andrew Garrod, Robert Kilkenny, Christina Gómez This presentation summery my reflection and opinion about the book .

1. Memory, Memoir and Mastery Project
Edu 604
RUTH SALAS-RAMOS

2. INTRODUCTION
Mi Voz, Mi Vida, Latino College Students Tell Their Life Stories. Edited by
Andrew Garrod, Robert Kilkenny, Christina Gómez.
This book tells the stories of fifteen Latino college students in the United States.
These students come from different countries like Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba,
Dominican Republic, Central and South America. The stories detail the
students’ personal struggles with issues such as identity, biculturalism, religion,
poverty, stereotypes and education.

3. CONNECTIONS TO THE COURSE MATERIAL PRESENTED IN THIS
COURSE.
RESILIENCE
Students faced the following obstacles like:
 Dysfunctional families,
 Financial challenges,
 Dangerous neighborhoods
 Racism
All of these factors are environmental causes or disadvantages associated with
out- of- school learning opportunities (Murphy, 2010 p. 136).
At the end students find avenues of release for their pain, they discover answers
to their questions, and ultimately, achieve success.

4. CONNECTIONS TO THE COURSE MATERIAL PRESENTED IN THIS
COURSE.
BICULTURALISM
All the students in this book are bicultural. They struggle with existing,
adapting and living within those different worlds.
 Latino vs. white,
 rich vs. poor
 educated vs. uneducated,
 legal vs. illegal.
Multicultural education calls to incorporate history, beliefs and perspectives of
people from different cultural backgrounds that can help students recognize
the essential humanity, and value of different types of people (Gorski, 2010).

5. CONNECTIONS TO THE COURSE MATERIAL PRESENTED IN THIS
COURSE.
MENTORING
 Students raised by single moms. Many of which instilled a strong work ethic
in their children.
 According to Suarez-Orozco “Immigrant parents and their children are very
aware of the importance of education to their future success” (2002).
 Education is highly valued for immigrant parents because they may not
have had that same opportunity in their native country.

6. QUESTIONS
What voices resonated with you?
Joseph and his ability to understand and adjust to new
situations.

7. QUESTIONS
What challenges and opportunities did
these student faces?
After living in an upper-middle-class life, Joseph’s father was
incarcerated and the family is forced to leave their house and move to
a hotel. He went to a different school where Joseph felt very advanced
in comparation to his classmates, but was encouraged by his teachers
to identify with his culture. All the struggles helped Joseph to be
grateful for the experiences that made him even stronger to overcome
difficult circumstances and reach success.

8. QUESTIONS
Using our readings and discussions, what
would and could you do to assist these
students to be successful socially and
academically?

9.  First of all, I would take the time to examine the real-life experiences
of students in their everyday interactions in school and outside the
school. By doing this, I’ll be able to understand better their culture and
circumstances that brought them here (Pollock, 2008).
 Second, I will use different strategies and innovate ways to assist them
better (Suarez- Orozco, & Suarez-Orozco, 2002).
 Third, I would make sure I foster a positive classroom climate for all
students and my lessons include culture accommodating their needs
(Gorski, 2010).

10. QUESTIONS
Explain what the issue and theme
mentioned in your book mean for society
The book addresses society issues like social class,
immigration, ethnicity, education and poverty that affect
students. It is necessary to be aware of what is happening in
our schools to find the solutions to support our students and
families adequately.

11. CONCLUSION
This book gave me a clear view of the experience of Latino
students adapting to a challenging educational environment
and a cultural context. It helped me appreciate
multiculturalism as an effective method for demonstrating
that people from all ethnicities can have a positive influence
on the world and deserve to be respected and emulated.

12. REFERENCE
Gorski, P. (April 14, 2010). The Challenge of Defining "Multicultural Education. [Web
log]
Murphy, J. (2010). The Educator's Handbook for Understanding and Closing
Achievement Gaps. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Corwin.
Pollock, M. (2008). From shallow to deep: Toward a thorough cultural analysis of
school a
achievement patterns. Anthropology & Education Quarterly,39(4), 369-380. Doi:
10.2307/25166678
Suárez-Orozco, C., & Suárez-Orozco, M. M. (2002). Children of Immigration.
Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.