On April 4, Wayne State College will be hosting Dia de Familia, a visit day for Spanish speaking families to come learn about the college admissions process, scholarships, and financial aid all in Spanish.
Assistant Director of Admissions Veronica Guzman, Rep for Siouxland and one of the bilingual members of admissions, views Dia de Familia as more for the parents who don’t have a strong understanding of English.
“Now I think in this generation we have a lot of first-generation immigrants… [who] primarily speak Spanish and might understand English for the sake of their children who are in school,” Guzman said. “But in Spanish it’s easier for a parent to be able to ask questions, to share concerns about what the college search process is like, and how Wayne State could help make their child successful here on campus.”
The day will start at 10 a.m. in the Elkhorn room where Guzman and Anna Trautman, the Senior Admissions Counselor and Rep for Central and Western Nebraska, will rotate sharing different presentations about the college search process and WSC, including careers, support services and other things students can do on campus.
The day will also include a panel of current bilingual WSC students who volunteered to help out by answering questions.
“We have a college student panel of our current bilingual students… [who don’t] necessarily have to be Latino or Hispanic students, but any student who is bilingual and speaks Spanish, we invite them to be part of the panel,” Guzman said.
WSC junior Giovanna Aguilar, a business administration major with a focus on finance, will be one of the students sitting on the panel for her third year in a row. Aguilar is a first-generation college student who decided to join the panel as a way to share the things she wished she knew to the possible incoming students.
“When I got here, I had nobody else who I [could] reach out to or help me in that area [financial aid],” Aguilar said. “So, I just decided to. I wanted to help the students that feel the same way I did before coming into college, and I just want to be that person who they can talk to [and answer] some questions, especially being a bilingual person.”
As part of the panel, Aguilar said she wanted to share about her experience here at WSC, the process of financial aid and to help make everyone feel comfortable so they are able to find their place on campus.
“The biggest message is that, if you [the students] feel like this is the right place for you, then it is the right place for you,” Aguilar said. “You may actually find different paths while being here, but you got to start somewhere. This is your starting point.”
The families will also get to experience lunch on campus before going on a tour of campus where they will get to learn about campus from a bilingual navigator.
SC junior Diana Garcia will be one of the navigators for the families at Dia de Familia and views these tours as important because they help the families feel more comfortable and have more confidence in their understanding of campus.
“I think giving tours in Spanish is important because families can get the same information that others get on regular tours, but the information is given in a way that they can understand,” Garcia said.
Guzman said she finds days like Dia de Familia or other visit days like the indigenous schools visit days important because they show how much WSC wants to serve all populations and bring out all their potential.
“We believe in the potential of every student and, of course, with awesome resources that we offer at Wayne State, we help them become successful such as the TRIO program, the Multicultural Office and other resources,” Guzman said. “Especially now that we’re going to have the Academic and Career Success Center, I’m looking forward to always help partnering with Academic Affairs and helping these students thrive at Wayne State.”
Eleonora Cagnetta, a WSC sophomore who helped on the panel last year as part of SIRI, focused on how a visit day like this also brings more people together.
“This day also helps bridge the gap between higher education and populations that have been historically underrepresented in those institutions,” Cagnetta said. “As someone whose first language is not English, I am glad that Wayne State organizes these programs.”
Guzman also talked about how on a visit day like Dia de Familia the students around campus can help to make the visitors more comfortable.
“I encourage all students to just help our families feel welcome and feel free to come to the Kanter Student Center and just to come and say hello, give a warm welcome,” Guzman said. “It doesn’t have to be long, but just short…So we are all about not just a welcoming culture but helping these families know that they definitely do belong here at Wayne State College.”
People interested in helping with Dia de Familia can reach out to Guzman at [email protected] or Anna Trautman at [email protected].
