MY CULTURA

MY CULTURA

By Veronica Mendoza Hand

“When you leave you must remember to come back for the others. A circle, understand? You will always be Esperanza. You will always be Mango Street. You can’t erase what you know. You can’t forget who you are.” 

-Sandra Cisneros, The House on Mango Street

As a student at Overfelt High School in East San José, I read one of my all time favorite books, The House on Mango Street, in my Puente English class. This was my favorite book because it was the first book I ever read that I could relate to. The author, like myself, is Mexican American and wrote about her connection to her culture and familia.

“...I read one of my all time favorite books, The House on Mango Street, in my Puente English class.”

The Puente Project has been around since 1981, and the goal of the program is to improve the college going rate of California’s underrepresented students. There are approximately seven middle school, 36 high school and 65 community college Puente programs in California. I have recently become the counselor and co-coordinator of the Puente program at Mission College in Santa Clara, and what a full circle moment this has been for me!

“...the goal of the program is to improve the college going rate of California’s underrepresented students.”

I know I am exactly where I need to be. The Puente program offers instruction, typically through an English course, along with academic counseling and mentoring. All instructors, counselors, and coordinators of the program attend mandatory training, which feels like going to a family fiesta. They play mi música, they speak my language, and my heart is absolutely filled with joy when I am around other Puentistas, as we like to call ourselves.

In my role, I have been able to reach out to my fellow Puente high school classmates, and some of them will be mentors to my Puentistas at Mission College. Connecting with my high school classmates has also reminded me of my roots and has brought me so much happiness. In all honesty, although my goal is to help students, it is the students and the Puente program that give so much back to me: through this work, I can be authentically unapologetically myself, and for this reason, I and other Puentistas thrive in higher education.

“...through this work, I can be authentically unapologetically myself, and for this reason, I and other Puentistas thrive in higher education.”