CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — At the University of Northern Iowa, there are more than 8,900 students. Latinx students make up nearly 6% of the campus population, and 32% of college students are first-generation, the first to earn a degree in their families.
Karina Ortiz is one of those students, and she's getting ready to walk the graduation stage with her family roots top of mind.
"My ambition really comes from kind of being the first-generation college student in my family," Ortiz said.
Ortiz's family raised her in New Jersey. Her dad is Puerto Rican, and her mom is from Peru. She worried she would lose her cultural roots if she attended a university in Iowa.
"I was really afraid before I came to UNI . . . that I was losing my Spanish," Ortiz said.
Her professor, Elise DuBord, understands this fear.
"[Students say], 'now that I'm away from my family, I'm not speaking Spanish anymore.' And I think that is a very common experience that as students have more and more access to higher education, sometimes they have less connection with family," DuBord said.
Ortiz's journey to earning her education has been nontraditional. She began her studies at DMACC, until a jaw surgery forced her to take time off to pay for her medical bills. Her cousin, Giovanni, encouraged her to go back to college.
Ortiz enrolled at UNI, joining Elise DuBord's Spanish Heritage class to sharpen her Spanish.
"When I first started in that class, I think I was very shy," Ortiz said. "And I didn't know what I was going to do here."
Still, she dived into her studies, majoring in English and minoring in Creative Writing and Spanish/English translation.
Her experience of being raised bilingual isn't uncommon in Iowa. That's why DuBord is working to create more support on campus for students who speak another language at home, as well as first-generation students.
"One of the hardest things about being a first-generation generation college student, especially someone who grew up speaking a different language, is to find other people who have similar life backgrounds, so that you can identify with those students as well," DuBord said.
With the support of professors like DuBord, Ortiz has excelled in college. Her bilingualism and writing skills have created opportunities not just for her, but for her team and campus culture.
For the past year, Ortiz has served as the Spanish editor of The Northern Iowan student newspaper, leading a team of translators that produce a news article in Spanish every week.
"Some of these initiatives, like The Northern Iowan in Español, the Spanish column in the newspaper, it gives Spanish a real sort of elevated status and says this is this is something that deserves to be public, and recognized," DuBord said of Ortiz's work.
In addition, Ortiz has published a book of poetry, "Bilingual Baby: Confessions of a Latina Woman".
As Ortiz graduates, she's learned the value of collaborating with others and the value of being bilingual. UNI is a place where she has blossomed with a deeper self-awareness.
"No matter where you are in life, you can go anywhere that you want to, like you can achieve your dreams, your goals, no matter where you're from," she said.
Ortiz will officially graduate from UNI on Friday.