A Civic Journey It all began in Guadalajara, Mexico, in 1987, when my parents decided to seek the promising opportunities that the United States had to offer. As an immigrant to this country, I learned quickly that in order to be successful I had to work twice as hard as the average American. Unfortunately, sometimes even that isn’t enough—many members of our community have fallen through the social cracks of society in the United States, which contributes to the disproportionately high dropout rates, high teenage pregnancy rates, and low wages among Latino populations. As a child, all of these issues seemed overwhelming, until I became socially and politically active. Public-policy decisions, whether they are related to education, health care or immigration issues, directly affect Latinos. Tired of seeing friends and family members fall through the cracks, I poured my passion into helping my community.

Mariana Kihuen, pictured here with Senator Hillary Clinton, is a senior at Georgetown University.

While many of my peers seemed apathetic to the impact public officials have on our community, early on I embraced the importance of being involved in the political process and began my career as a community activist. Rancho High School (RHS), where I attended, is the starting point for many children of immigrants arriving in Southern Nevada. Instead of accepting a school system in which many of those children failed to achieve success, I decided to change the system. During my years at RHS, I had the privilege of being elected by my peers to lead several school organizations. In the capacity of president of the Hispanic Student Union for three consecutive years, president of the sophomore and junior classes, and student-body president, I helped voice many of the problems that face our community today. If we were not addressing the school board to petition that more culturally sensitive administrators be hired or demanding that our ESL program be funded, we were protesting our local newspaper for publishing discriminatory articles.

I graduated high school with high honors and received a full-ride scholarship to attend Georgetown University. To say I experienced a culture shock at Georgetown doesn’t do the feeling justice—it was more like a cultural earthquake: a fantastic, frightening, fulfilling and frustrating earthquake that reaffirmed my commitment not only to my own community but also to other racial and ethnic minorities trying to get by in this country. It was unfathomably intimidating for a native Spanish speaker to sit in class with wealthy, private-school-educated students spitting 15-letter words like a baseball player spitting sunflower seeds. But rather than seeking shelter in a doorway when this earthquake hit, I’ve tried to take full advantage of learning about the diverse political and social beliefs of my classmates. This has allowed me to take a more universal approach to advocacy and to learn how to build coalitions with other communities in order to advance my own community.

During my college summers, I’ve tried to use my expanded political views to help my community in Las Vegas. During the summer of 2003, I interned for my U.S. senator, Harry Reid (D-NV), in his Las Vegas district office. The following summer, I returned to work for Sen. Reid as part of his re-election campaign team. At this time, I also had the opportunity to work on other campaigns under the Nevada State Democratic Party and contributed to the John Kerry for Nevada campaign. I continued participating in grassroots efforts such as Get Out the Vote and canvassing throughout Latino neighborhoods to increase voter registrations. I extended my work with Sen. Reid throughout the fall of 2004, interning on Capitol Hill while attending school full-time.

After I graduate from Georgetown in May, I plan to work for a year before entering law school. As a lawyer, I am bound to work for advocacy groups that serve the interests of recent immigrants and the underprivileged. Not only do I owe this to my parents and myself, but I also owe it to the community that has supported me over the years. I have always believed that political advocacy cannot be effective without the will and drive to help the less fortunate and to give back to our communities. I now know that it also requires a cultural and political understanding of those you’re helping and those who will oppose you.

Are you or do you know a college student with a story to share? E-mail us at editor@latinastyle.com!