In honor of Latino Heritage Month, this week’s Campus Celebrity is a proud Latina who is very involved with cultural groups on campus. Meet Cristina de la Rosa, Barnard sophomore and native New Yorker!
1) What organizations are you involved in and what is your role within them?
I am currently the Historian for Grupo Quisqueyano, a Dominican club on campus, and I’m also the Secretary for Latino Heritage Month.
2) What do these groups have planned for Latino Heritage Month?
For LHM we have a lot of awesome events planned for the entire month of October. We have a movie screening, an education event where we will be mentoring high school students, political events, a comedy show, and a showcase, just to name a few! We also have many other Latino groups on campus collaborating with us throughout the month! Look out for all their awesome discussions, great food, and lovely people!
3) On a personal level, why is heritage month important to you?
It’s important to me because it is my culture. I am a proud Latina, and it’s important for all of us to join to together and provide a supportive environment for each other. I also believe that it’s important to have a voice on campus and to invite others, who might not be aware of our community, to learn more about us. I think that there is so much diversity within our own culture and I find myself learning something new about other cultures all the time!
4) What else are you involved with on campus?
I am also part of Grupo Quisqueyano, which is the Dominican club on campus. This group is very dear to my heart because my entire family is from the Dominican Republic and it is nice to see that we also have a voice on campus and that we can put together great events welcome to all. We have events that range from our Dominican Independence week in February, to bi-weekly discussions about Dominican issues or simply issues that we might deal with within the Latino community. A good example of this can be the event that we will have on October 15, in collaboration with Latino Heritage Month called “Spanish Hierarchy: My Spanish Is Better That Yours.” We will discuss the variants of language in Latin America, and how this affects us as individuals.
5) What do you see yourself doing in five years?
That is a difficult question to answer! I’m not totally sure what I want to do after I graduate, but I’m currently thinking of majoring in Psychology and I would love to apply that to our criminal systems, by looking into Forensic Psychology or Criminology. I definitely see myself attending graduate school though, so hopefully that will be in my near future as well!
6) What do you like best about Barnard?
Everything! I love that it is in the city and I can simply take the train anywhere in the city. Even though I grew up in New York, there are still many things that I have yet to discover and that’s exciting! I also love the people here in Barnard. I think the faculty is awesome, and the friendships that I have made here I’m sure will last a lifetime!
7) If you were an animal, what would you be?
I would be an elephant–I like them because they’re so sweet and intelligent!
Find out more about the Latino Heritage Month events here:
http://www.facebook.com/GrupoQuisqueyano?fref=ts
http://www.facebook.com/latinoheritagemonth?fref=ts