This month has gone by so quickly and there's
so much to do yet before I can sleep tonight. It's late and I
want to get my thoughts down before I have to get going on my
next project, a presentation at Cambio de Colores, a Missouri
state conference on Latino issues. It's exciting to see this exchange
of ideas concerning health, education, economy, and political
issues facing Latinos in this state. A group of us from Saint
Louis University will be presenting issues concerning education.
There will be a couple of student papers that look at the Cherokee
area of St. Louis, a new Mexican area of the city. I've lived
in the Southwest most of my life and I have observed that Latino
issues are sometimes taken for granted, and at times I feel that
people become desensitized or maybe lose hope that anything can
be done to change the realities of life. This conference for me
is a ray of hope, for those who are attending and for those who
want to see positive changes for Latinos in this state.
My panel will be talking about recruitment and retention of Hispanics
in higher education. I've been thinking about this topic for the
past few weeks and can't seem to pin point exactly what are some
key issues that I feel are critical to present. Today I got an
email message from two bilingual students who will be visiting
me next week to consider graduate school here in St. Louis. I
thought about what I was doing to try to recruit these two students
and the others that have written me. I can honestly say that I
try to make them feel worth the effort, that is, my time is theirs.
They are worth it. These future students are important to our
field. They're important to the young children and adults who
will receive services from these future qualified and competent
bilingual clinicians. I believe that my responsibility is to make
sure that these future graduate students recognize that they need
to interview graduate programs and select the one that will give
them the most benefits, in education, money, mentoring, and whatever
it takes to get them through graduate studies. They're worth it.
I remember how I use to get students who didn't feel worth it.
They would get discouraged about grades, faculty who didn't understand
them or their ways, assignments, the pressure to succeed and compete.
I considered my job as part time encourager and part time faculty.
I sometimes feel that even when they graduate there is still a
twinge of doubt that they are special. I'm not the only one that
thinks that they're special, because the job offers do come to
them.
I also meet mature bilingual clinicians who have been practicing
a long time and who don't know how special they are to this field.
Their work has been faithful to their clients and they work hard
each day, sometimes against some formidable odds within the system
they work in. Or maybe they're just tired and believe that they
are not making much progress clinically with clients. These are
the ones I really worry about.
Have you received emails that promote "great women"
or "beautiful women" ..they come around every few weeks.
They're encouraging and I usually am happy to receive these notes
from my female friends. I'm glad that they think of me when they
read these poems. I believe that women just need to keep telling
themselves "they're worth it."
So, look at the conference page for the Bilingual Symposium this
summer in Las Vegas, Nevada. This is going to be a great conference,
a great time visiting with other clinicians, and a wonderful way
to network and build confidence in what you do day in and day
out. Ask your agency to fund this trip so that you can build your
knowledge and skills for the client population at your site. There
will be some great speakers and of course the facilities will
be beautiful. Take time for yourself. Remember you're worth it.
