Adapting to a New Strength

Written by: Emely Gonzalez 🇸🇻

Headshot of Edna Reyes Campos. (Aryanna Carrera)

Choosing the right major in college comes with various considerations. At times, it’s hidden in the little things of life that we don’t notice because they just seem normal.

Edna Reyes Campos described this idea when she changed her major from psychology to sociology.

“I'd say my mom has a big influence on why I picked my major,” she said. “She's always like, ‘Oh, why are you talking about societies and how white people are the way they are, like, white people are in certain situations?’”

Her college journey hasn’t gone smoothly, even before she got to campus.

“Any transfer student can talk about how hard it is to transfer regardless of whether you come from dual enrollment or if you come from Montgomery College,” she said.

The journey to College Park brought a new type of environment where Reyes Campos had to find her strength through adaptability.

“There's so many types of different people in college… I would say everyone is in their own world,” she said. “You need to learn how to adapt and communicate with different types of people.”

Adaptability also came with a new perspective on what responsibilities meant to her.

“If you’re struggling going down a wrong path, whether it’s socially, not necessarily educationally, know that you're on your own and take that step to kind of confront yourself and be honest with yourself,” Reyes Campos said.

Photo of the Reyes Campos Family. (Courtesy of Edna Reyes Campos).

In moments when college begins to feel overwhelming, Reyes Campos finds herself remembering the words of her teacher, Ms. Hart.

“Time's gonna pass and then you're going to eventually establish yourself. Don't rush things because things kind of happen in their own time.” 

Through those challenges, Reyes Campos learned the importance of being honest with herself and taking control of the moment, even when the outcome feels uncertain.

“If you're scared of telling your parents something that's going on in college on stages, just do it, because not only are you gonna grow, but they're gonna grow. It's all like this growing experience for everybody,” she said.

For Reyes Campos, pursuing higher education was never optional. 

In El Salvador, her father was an agricultural engineer and her mother a pharmacist before migrating to the United States. But once they arrived, the careers they had built were no longer recognized. Reyes Campos said their educational backgrounds were essentially “erased,” a reality that motivates her to continue her family’s legacy through higher education.

As she has explored her education beyond the classroom walls on campus through study abroad programs in Costa Rica and Spain, she plans to apply to an international fellowship to take the next step forward in her own legacy of higher education.

“Dos mas dos es quatro.” - Edna Reyes Campos’s parents