The power of self-advocacy

Escrito por: Emely Gonzalez 🇸🇻

Headshot of Stephanie Hernandez. (Isai Amaya-Diaz)

"Reach out for help, because in college, we are our own advocates," said Stephanie Hernandez, a first-generation psychology student from Hyattsville, Maryland.

During her time at the University of Maryland, Hernandez has learned that advocating for her own needs and goals is essential to her success, whether through reaching out to professors when struggling in a class or taking the initiative to work extra hours at her on-campus job.

This realization began early in her college journey. As a first-generation student, Hernandez did not have parents familiar with navigating college admissions like many of her peers. 

Through this experience, she developed strong problem-solving skills and a deep sense of resilience. 

“No one’s going to be helping us unless we ask for that help ourselves,” she said.

Upon arriving on campus, Hernandez began to build her community but faced challenges in feeling represented. Despite UMD’s reputation as a diverse institution, she often found herself as the only Hispanic student in her classroom. 

Instead of letting this discourage her, Hernandez used it as motivation to seek opportunities where she could support and guide others.

“There's many different types of clubs and organizations here that try and promote inclusivity within different ethnic groups and race groups. I think that’s definitely empowering to see as an incoming freshman,” she said. “However, within the classroom, I feel like that's where I mainly picked out that, oh, I might have been the only Latino or Hispanic person or woman in that class, and that kind of took a little toll on me.”

In her first year, during the spring semester, she joined the university’s undergraduate and admitted students offices, where she helped prospective students and their families navigate the university experience. 

Family of Stephanie Hernandez. (Courtesy of Stephanie Hernandez)

Hernandez credits her parents for instilling in her the drive to give her all in everything she pursues. 

“My parents would often tell me, ‘give it your all, so you can study and work in something you're passionate about and won't have to do the physically demanding or hard jobs that no one else wants to do—like we have to do, like most immigrants had to do,’” she said “I think that really inspired me to think about what in these workplaces people can do better, like, what can we do to improve them so that other families don't have to experience that type of feeling?”

She plans to apply the self-advocacy skills she has learned in college to a career in consulting, where she’d like to advocate for employees and foster a more passionate and engaged workforce. 

Hernandez believes that by empowering others, she can create meaningful change, just as she has done for herself.

“¡Con todos los poderes, sí se puede!” - Hernandez’s family