As a first-generation, low-income student, navigating academia has been challenging, but not impossible, thanks to the support of programs like the Latina/o Studies Program; I have been able to advance in my academic career.
Conducting Community-Based Participatory Research in the binational community of El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, my group's research proposal, "Persistence and Passage Providers: Community Organizing in the Borderlands," was accepted to be presented at the Imagining America (IA) 2025 National Gathering in Las Cruces, New Mexico, from October 3-5. The only obstacle that prevented me from attending the conference was the financial hurdle, despite being a current McNair Scholar, which should have provided me with the necessary funds to travel to the conference; however, the Department of Education had yet to allocate funds to this program. Thus, I had to find other sources of funding opportunities for travel expenses.
This is when I stumbled upon the Latina/o Studies Undergraduate Research Grant. Since my research focused on advocacy and NGOs in the borderlands, which relates to the Latina/o Studies discourse, I applied for the grant in the hope of obtaining financial assistance to attend the conference. Luckily, my grant was accepted, and I was able to travel to present my research, where over 30 academic scholars, community leaders, and advocates were present and engaged with our research findings.
I am genuinely grateful that resources like the Latina/o Undergraduate Research Grant are available, as they make it possible for first-generation, low-income students like myself to pursue opportunities that would be impossible otherwise.
Be on the lookout in the Spring 2026 semester for my research presentation in the Latina/o Studies Program. I will be presenting my original summer research findings titled, The Last Line of Defense: How Faith-Based Organizations' Active Participation in Symbiotic Humanitarian Assistance within the Borderlands Survives a Second Trump Administration?
Gio Rodriguez ‘26 will be graduating in May 2026 with a B.S. in Global Development, and minors in Latina/o and Migration Studies.
