What I've Learned So Far

1) What have you learned how to do since you started working on your senior project?

I have learned to pay more attention and focus on current events that I never really thought about or even knew were occurring. Before, whenever I would watch the news I would not look at important things that impacted me, but instead be horrified by the terrible news. I never grasped the fact that television also brought helpful, direct resources that could better the community. I started noticing that there were specific segments in news broadcasts that were dedicated to inform the audience. Whether they were about finance, education, etc. they all served a purpose and hoped to help the viewers. Since my research project is about Latino Education, anything that related to it, like the Dream Act, immigration protests, or new statistics about Hispanic education, I started to notice it frequently. I am now more aware about current events and make sure that I am up-to-date with my information. By paying attention to my surroundings this helps me understand whether Latino parents are being offered resources that will help them encourage their children pursue a higher education. I believe that this is really important since it may be a possible answer to my essential question. 


2) Post evidence of this accomplishment.  It can be in the form of a picture, video, document, etc..

In the Univision station that primarily serves spanish-speakers, I found a segment named "Es el momento: Educate," which means: It is the moment- Educate yourself. After watching several episodes I went on to their website where I found a lot of resources. Parents who may be watching this show can get interested and log on to the cite, which is great because it goes into depth about a lot of things. I'm not sure if it existed before, but this education program seems to be fairly new. This new lists of programs makes me believe that Latinos are starting to become more aware about the education issues and they want to fix it. The website is : http://vidayfamilia.univision.com/es-el-momento/?origRef=http%3A%2F%2Fvidayfamilia.univision.com%2F

3) What research helped you to do this and how?
As I was thinking about possible solutions to my essential question I was with my mother watching spanish television. I saw a piece of the segment and then asked my mother about it. She then told me that Univision has a new program that is about education. She described what the show was about and some of the resources that they offered. Later on through out the week I started to notice that the messages were daily and they covered a lot about education. In the segment they offered their website as a suggestion to look at and I did. Now, whether its in English or Spanish television I have been more involved in seeking specific information about education. 

Independent Component 1 Plan Approval

(1) Write a description of what you plan on doing for your independent study component.

I have all ready started doing my independent study component by working with Gilda Ochoa (Pomona College Professor), Pomona College students, and Pomona High School students. This a course taught by Ochoa, but I am only participating in the community collaboration aspect; I'm not enrolled in the course. Through the collaboration we will become a closer community and at the end of the course give an oral history presentation. To do this we will need to do research and interview several people. Every group of college and high school student will have different aspects (education, family migration, sex and gender) and will focus on that specific topic.

(2) Describe in detail how you think your plan will meet the 30 hours work requirement.

We have met and will continue to meet every next Friday (or sometimes Thursday) usually from 2:45 - 4:45 pm (sometimes 12:30-4:00 pm), until the final date of December 3 (Saturday). Though the the meetings itself should average a total of 26 hours, if I include the extra time needed for interviews, and research this should be a  little more then 30 hours. 

*Location varies from Pomona High School or Pomona College

(3) How does your independent study component relate to your EQ?   

EQ- What is the best way to increase the number of Latino students that attend higher education institution? 

I have chosen family migrations as my topic, but it will not be such a broad topic. I chose family migration instead of education because I wanted to concentrate on the reason why migrant parents do not search for college resources. If I am able to pinpoint the reasons why parents don't know about resources then I can come up with a solution (perhaps through my research itself). It is important to take into account the reasons why it may be hard for parents and children to assimilate, this may have a connection with education. I also will be there while other groups give their presentations,  I will be taking notes and asking questions so I may use their findings as part of my research. I will be able to hear presentations from different perspectives and this could impact my answers to my essential question. 

Defining the Essential Question

(1) What is your EQ?


What is the best way to increase the number of Latino students that attend higher education institutions? 

(2) Define the words in your EQ to make sure we are on the same page regarding what your EQ means.


By "increase" I mean a substantial amount; I'm not certain of what that is but it will definitely not be 1%. I will define Latino as anyone who is a descendent or from Latin-America. Though I am not certain, I do not believe that I will include community colleges as higher education institutions. 

(3) What are some possible answers to your EQ so far? 

• Inform the parental community about unknown resources for the college process through ways that include, but are not limited to workshops, presentations, media (magazines, tv, etc.).
• Inspire and motivate Latino students to take pride in their heritage through positive forms of art (plays, videos, stories, paintings, etc.).
• Educate Latino students directly about the benefits of pursuing a higher education. 
• Teach Latino students about the generalizations of stereotypes and persuade them to not  demean themselves and their dreams. 

(4) What has been your most important source and why?  Be specific.  If it is a person, name them and what they do, if it is an article, book or video, name the title and author.  


My most important source has been my independent learning that I have been doing with Pomona High School and Pomona College students. We have been working in a collaborative group and have done several different activities. The activity which I thought was really informative was the one when we analyzed the 2010 Census map: http://projects.nytimes.com/census/2010/map. I found huge differences from cities like Claremont and Pomona. In Claremont there are many more people with a greater level of educational experience and predominantly are Anglos, while in Pomona there are fewer educated individuals and are predominately Hispanic. This really made me more passionate about what I want to discover and hope to find the solution to clear the distinct boundaries and differences from these neighboring cities. 

Second Interview Questions

I believe that I will be interviewing Carlos Carillo, Connect to College program coordinator, since I believe that I will be doing service learning with him.

1. If you went to a higher educational institution, where did you go and for how many years? 
2. What did you major in? Does this have any connection with what your career is now? Why does it or why not?
3. What exactly is Connect to College? 
4. What certain qualities or traits do you have to have in order to fit this job? 
5. Were there any certain procedures that you had to do before receiving this current job? 
6. What exactly is your job?
7. What event (or thing) inspired you to work in this field?
8. Do you believe there is any purpose in your actions? If so, explain. 
9. When I mention the words: Latino and education, what are the first things that you think about?
10. My essential question may be: What is the best way to increase the number of Latino students to attend higher educational institutions. What do you believe is (are) the answer(s) to this issue if you think it is? If not explain why not.