Dreams Deferred: Pandemics and First Generation College Graduates

College graduate walking with her cap and gown.

Alexia Sánchez imagined a different ending for her final semester at the University of Iowa (UI), but she found out shortly before spring break that she wouldn’t be returning to campus because of COVID-19. Her remaining classes would be conducted online, and all events, including her graduation ceremony, were cancelled. “Never in my life would I have expected to end my college career in a pandemic and not finish it out,” Sánchez said in a recent phone interview with Luz Collective.


She’s sad that she missed senior traditions and didn’t get to finish the list of things she wanted to accomplish before graduation. While millions of college seniors around the country are in the same position, this milestone carries more weight for first generation college students like Sánchez. When she was just five, Sánchez’s mom brought her and her older sister from Mexico to Des Moines, Iowa, to provide them a better future. Attending university was always a major goal for Sánchez, but it was not an easy process, especially because since her mom didn’t attend college, she couldn’t turn to her for advice.

Her sister enrolled two years before her, so she could offer some guidance from her experience. Despite the challenges, Sánchez was able to take on different leadership roles and even studied abroad twice. She also double majored in political science and social justice, with minors in philosophy and Latino studies. Her hope is to workin the immigration field. “I was putting myself out there and it was all about making the most out of my college experience, because I know that my mom worked so hard for me to get in,” said Sánchez.

She spent the last two years starting a Latinx organization called Unidos Living Learning Community (LLC) to support and empower the Latinx students, the largest minority population at UI. Sánchez said a lot of students advocated for the LLC in the past, so she decided to help make it happen. The LLC will launch in the fall. “I definitely worked hard and it was not easy,” said Sánchez. “Not only trying to figure out college life and being a college student, but also helping to make a difference for other first generation students and other Latino students who maybe don’t have their family to rely on.”

When Sánchez received the notice that her graduation ceremony was cancelled, she said she hugged her mom and took a day or two to grieve. “I think that’s the heaviest thing on my mind and on my heart–my mom,” said Sánchez. “She crossed the border so I could cross the stage and the fact that that might not be possible, it hurts.”

The news was also hard for Selena Hernandez and her parents after they learned that they wouldn’t see her graduate from The University of Louisiana at Lafayette. The youngest of eight girls, Hernandez is the first in her family to graduate with a college degree. “That’s what they’ve been waiting for the past five years,” said Hernandez.

Her father provided financial assistance with her tuition while she worked two jobs as a waitress and at a hospital to cover her textbooks and other expenses. Hernandez already has a job as a nurse, so her parents understand that cancelling the graduation ceremony is what’s best for everyone’s health to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus.

Most universities are hosting virtual ceremonies with the option for the Spring 2020 graduates to attend in-person graduations for future semesters. Sánchez and Hernandez are not sure if they will be available to participate when that time comes.

Hernandez is invited to walk with the Summer 2020 graduates in July, a month after she starts her full-time job at Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center in Lafayette, Louisiana. She is thinking about hosting a graduation party with family and friends but not until after Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards’ stay at home order expires on May 15. “There’s not much time between graduation and actually stepping into the real world where I have to work,” said Hernandez.

Sánchez was invited to walk during the December 2020 ceremony, which she tentatively plans to attend. Her grandparents planned to fly from Mexico to attend the Spring ceremony, but Sánchez isn’t sure what will happen. “That’s such a long time from now,” said Sánchez. “I don’t know if I’m still going to be in Iowa or if I’m going to be working somewhere else or if my family will be able to travel.”

Online communities are offering the Class of 2020 celebrations of their own. #WeAllGrow Latina network is hosting theirs on May 15 filled with special guests and a DJ. Graduates are asked to fill out a form and submit a video by May 13 to participate.

Regardless of the ceremony, Hernandez is ready to finish the semester and start her new job in the emergency room at Our Lady of Lourdes. Her last semester of clinical training was cancelled due to the pandemic, but she continued to work her part-time student nursing job. While Hernandez didn’t work directly with COVID-19 patients, she saw how aggressive it was. Everyone who worked at the hospital was screened every day and wore masks while in the building. She saw coworkers dressed head-to-toe in protective gear to guard themselves from the virus.

“It’s scary to be a healthcare worker in times like this, but at the same time it’s an amazing feeling to be one of the special people that can help our community,” said Hernandez. “I can honestly say I’m ready to start this new adventure as a nurse, pandemic or not.”

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Have you ever met someone who seems overly confident, self-centered, or even downright rude? Maybe they constantly talk about themselves, disregard your feelings, or even manipulate situations to their advantage. And, if you're anything like us and countless other Latinas, you might've thought, is this person just a purebred a**hole, or are they a narcissist?

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Image by Sayuri Jimenez.

Nathalie Molina Niño has never been one to shy away from breaking barriers, and now, she’s focusing her attention on a new mission: demystifying corporate boardrooms for women, especially Latinas. Molina Niño is the President of Known, an asset management and financial services firm, a veteran tech entrepreneur and builder capitalist, and a board member at the iconic lingerie Brand, Hanky Panky, and others.

Like many corporate boards, Hanky Panky hadn’t publicly disclosed its board composition until recently. After the brand survived the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, Molina Niño decided it was time for more women, specifically more Latinas, to know what it means to be on corporate boards.

Coincidentally, the decision to finally be more vocal about this topic aligned with the start of Hispanic Heritage Month, which served as the perfect kick-off to the work.

"Something that rarely gets talked about and I think almost gets kept opaque by design is boards,” she explains in a recent Instagram announcement. “[This Latinx Heritage Month], that’s what I’ll be talking about.” Her goal? To equip more Latinas with the knowledge they need to navigate onto for-profit boards, where they can thrive and build multi-generational wealth.

For-profit corporate boards often feel like an exclusive club. And in many ways, they are, especially for Latinas, who hold the smallest percentage of board seats in Fortune 500 companies compared to other racial groups. According to the latest report from Latino Board Monitor, while Latinos hold 4.1% of these board seats (compared to 82.5% held by white people), only 1% go to Latinas. Molina Niño, a first-generation American of Ecuadorian and Colombian descent, is part of this boardroom minority.

When asked about her experience as a Latina board member during a recent Zoom interview, she said, “It’s been lonely. There’s not a lot of Latinas on boards.” She went on to explain that even serving on boards of Latina-founded businesses gets lonely because, “A lot of the times, people who serve on their boards represent their investors and, as a result, [...] you still don’t see a lot of Latinas on those boards.”

This lack of representation drives Molina Niño’s determination to increase Latina presence in corporate boardrooms. By sharing her insights, she hopes to give Latinas a roadmap to claim their seats at the table. “If you don’t know where to go, it’s impossible to figure out how to get there,” she says.

The Road to the Boardroom

Getting onto a for-profit corporate board isn’t an overnight achievement, but it’s not an unattainable dream either. People often think you need to be a CEO or have a certain type of background, but that’s one of the biggest myths about boards in Molina Niño’s experience. What they’re really looking for is expertise — whether that’s in finance, marketing, sustainability, or even technology. If you have that expertise, you’re already an asset. It’s simply a matter of which road you should take.

Understanding what boards are and how they operate is key to unlocking opportunities. For-profit boards serve as the governing body for companies, overseeing direction and financial stability, and guiding CEOs and executives in decision-making. But Molina Niño emphasizes that not all for-profit boards are created equal.

“There are two kinds [of for-profit boards] [...]. There’s the publicly traded business board and then, on the privately held side, there are, I would argue, two types of boards [...] the traditional business board and the venture-backed business board,” explains Molina Niño. Traditional businesses are often family-owned or long-established and may only form boards to meet requirements, like securing financing or transitioning through an ESOP. Venture-backed boards, on the other hand, are typically filled by investors who hold major stakes in the company.

According to Molina Niño, understanding the difference between them is how you can create a successful strategy. With publicly traded business boards, the whole world is privy to them, so, “The way that you get in there is a little bit more transparent. Sometimes those publicly traded companies will hire a recruiter to help them find new board members,” explains Molina Niño. For private companies, on the other hand, there’s no legal requirement to make announcements. As a result, most people don’t know anything about them or their inner workings.

“Usually what happens in traditional businesses that don’t have venture-capital investments is that the Founders, Executives, or the board members, if one existed already, they usually go to their friends,” and people they deem experienced to fill board seats. In other words, it’s the founder’s decision, and that’s an entirely different approach than hiring recruiters. When it comes to venture-backed business boards, the seats on the board are filled by whichever investor writes the biggest check.

This is why an understanding of the different types of boards and acknowledgment of their own strengths is what will help Latinas define a sound strategy. Whether that’s working with a recruiter, networking and connecting with founders to build trust, or making the biggest investment.

The Path for Latinas

For Molina Niño, the key to getting more Latinas into corporate boardrooms is education. Knowing what a board looks like and how it functions is how you can position yourself to get on it. In openly talking about this, without the mystique it’s usually shrouded in, Molina Niño is providing women, especially Latinas, with invaluable insights. “If we had Latinas understanding what are the three types of for-profit boards I think that, on their own, they would be able to figure out what their best chance is and adjust their careers to make themselves more competitive,” states Molina Niño.

When asked about the impact of increased Latina representation in boardrooms, Molina Niño flips the narrative. “Boards don’t help Latinas by offering them seats; Latinas help businesses thrive by being on their boards,” she says. “The whole point of sitting on a board is that you have experience and expertise, and as Latinas, you also have some cultural experience that everyone wants. [...] At the end of the day, we [Latinas] have to realize that we have a ton to offer and we have to be selective about where we put that expertise,” she explains.

As demand for access to the Latina consumer rises, Molina Niño predicts that more Latinas will find themselves recruited into boardrooms. But she’s not content to sit back and wait for that moment. By openly sharing her journey and insights, she’s making sure other Latinas know their worth and have the tools to claim their place at the table. “I realized that quietly being on boards that helped me personally is not helping other Latinas. [...] I was lucky enough to have friends who could advise me and share their experiences, so that’s why I’m doing this,” she stated.

With Hispanic Heritage Month as the backdrop, Nathalie Molina Niño’s mission is clear: “My goal is just to give Latinas enough information so they can make a plan for how to eventually get on a board that they’re paid to be on and that will eventually help them build generational wealth.”

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Ever noticed how September in Latin America is just one big celebration? As we wave goodbye to summer and avoid winter as long as we can, the streets come alive with parades, music, and festivities. Many Latin American countries celebrate their freedom this month, commemorating their hard-fought battles for independence from colonial domination. Let’s dive into these significant days and understand what makes each unique.

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