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(l. to r.) Damiano Girona '16, Naoko Branker '15, Professor Patricia Reagan, Hannah Pencook '16, Lindsey Matthews '15 |
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2/20/13
Nearly 100 Randolph-Macon College students traveled abroad during January Term (
J-term) 2013. But other students didn’t have to go farther than Richmond for a cultural experience.
The 18 students enrolled in
Spanish Professor Patricia Reagan’s class, Spanish Service-Learning, gave 418 hours of service to a variety of non-profit agencies serving Spanish speakers in Richmond, including the Healthcare Clinic of Crossover Ministries, The Office of Multicultural Affairs, the Legal Aid Justice Center and the Virginia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
“This course serves three purposes,” says Reagan. “First, it gives students a chance to fill a need in the community by volunteering in non-profit agencies that help Spanish-speakers. Second, the hands-on practice brings the Spanish language alive in a way that classroom practice cannot. Third, the in-class portion focuses on Latino immigrants in the United States, the struggles they face, and the skills that students need to communicate in the community.”
Reagan placed students in agencies where they could explore possible career interests.
Marianna Wills ’14, a Spanish major and
mathematics minor who is following a
pre-med track, worked at the Medical Clinic of Crossover ministries interpreting and translating for clients.
Reflecting on the experience, Wills says, “I am not only more confident in my ability to speak Spanish, but also in my ability to understand the conditions of the Spanish-speaking people who want to come to the United States for a better life. Interacting with immigrants gave me a completely different outlook.”
The course allowed students to have experiences with cultures very different from their own.
Elanya Chin ’13, a
philosophy and
international studies major and
ethics and Spanish minor, studied in Chile in fall 2012. Chin likens Reagan’s course to her
study-abroad experience, as it pushed her out of her comfort zone.
“This course taught me that breaking out of my bubble can be as simple as driving 20 minutes into Richmond,” says Chin, who served at the City of Richmond Office of Multicultural Affairs by translating and interpreting for clients. Like other students, she found this course to challenge her limits, but she also found benefits within those challenges.
“I learned that by giving more than I thought I could, I get it all back, through smiles and personal growth,” she says. “My compassion for others has deepened simultaneously with my insight into the struggles and goals of the Hispanic community in Richmond and beyond.”
Topics of the classroom included myths and facts about immigrants and the immigration debate, the Latino population in the United States and in Virginia, border crossing, and political issues such as immigration reform, deportations, deferred action and the Dream Act.
“I intentionally overwhelmed students with as much information as possible about Latino immigration in the United States,” says Reagan. “I then helped them sort out their opinions while they were faced with the realities of immigrant issues at their placement sites.”
Cheral Byron ’15 and
Kristina Mitchell ’15, who worked at the Legal Aid Justice Center, helped local Attorney Phil Storey educate Latino apartment renters of their rights and responsibilities in Virginia.
“Affordable housing is a huge issue for low-income people generally, but immigrants with limited English skills are especially vulnerable,” says Storey. “It was very helpful to have Cheral and Kristina go to Latino shops and apartment complexes with Latino renters, talking with them in Spanish and giving them our written materials, which explain about how to protect their rights to fair and decent housing.”
Hannah Pencook ’16, who worked with the Virginia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, says that the legal clinic where she volunteered helped her draw conclusions regarding the course material.
“This course changed me by putting real faces to the problem of immigration,” says Pencook. “I met people who are trying their best to become legal residents, and it really hit home that undocumented immigrants are hard-working people like anyone else.”
The agencies where the students worked reaped significant benefits. Tanya Gonzalez, manager of The City of Richmond Office of Multicultural Affairs, says, “It was great to have Randolph-Macon students helping in the office. They assisted with a wide range of tasks and they brought fresh perspectives, positive energy, and much needed support to the OMA. Thank you to Professor Reagan and the students for their amazing community service!”