By Gerson Orellana Prudencio

My experience as a Latino student has been an incredible journey at CSUMB. I find solidarity within the Latino community and among other cultural communities when students interact during social events and collaborate together to find a like minded environment within classes and in the social spaces of the OC3 and the OSU. When I walk on campus, I see so much diversity and the presence of many cultures and languages. It is very important to me to continue cultural solidarity with students, as a student I would like to find individuals that have gone through similar experiences and get to share common concerns and issues that we face as first generation students. I am a first generation student that has no additional educational support from my parents. Since high school, I had to learn by myself how I could climb the educational ladder. I was able to join supportive programs like EOPS and TRIO. I was able to find students from all ethnic backgrounds experiencing similar issues such as lack of mentorship, workshops for FAFSA, and financial literacy. CSUMB has so many programs for undocumented students and for students with disabilities, which supports students like myself. I find these resources very useful because now I have access to a testing room, note taking assistance, and more.

As a new transfer student, I was able to adapt to the student environment. I am very proud to come to this school because I know that CSUMB is working on having more student representation based on ethnic backgrounds and their individual educational needs. A new supportive organization that recently just started is called El Centro, which I am a current student coordinator for. I am looking forward to El Centro and for other cultural organizations to collaborate and create a stronger solidarity bond with each other such as with the Helen Rucker Center, Men of Color Alliance (MOCA), UndocuOtters. I believe that the more cultural solidarity there is on campus, the more new students from all over the country and from the world could come to this campus and know that there are supportive programs for all students from diverse backgrounds. Climbing the educational ladder is important for all students and having more access to scholarships and additional support would help in their journey. Serving my community here at CSUMB really has opened my mind to continue working alongside with other communities to create more cultural solidarity on campus. 

I've seen and have been able to be supported by all of the organizations that CSUMB has to offer to further my education. There are many more individuals like me that are looking for support. 

Gerson Orellana Prudencio was born and raised in Monterey CA, from Salvadoran immigrant parents, and is currently studying Collaborative Health and Human Services with a concentration in Social Work. He is one of El Centro’s Student Coordinators and enjoys doing landscaping art and taking nature photography.