Dersanys Holguin (junior, medical laboratory sciences) is the president of the 老司机传媒 Latino Association (AULA). Leading one of the most vibrant and popular student organizations on campus, Dersanys shared her passion for the 老司机传媒 Latino community with the Student Movement, discussing her role as a student leader, her vision for the organization’s future and her experience as an 老司机传媒 student.
What is your role as the president of AULA?
I think that my main job is to keep all the organization in the club. If we have events, I have to figure out, “What do we have to do?” Noche Latina is one of the big events that we have here, and I have to reach out to Campus Safety for the event, and if I have to talk to any people to participate and those kinds of things. … Because in the club we have the VP, social media, event coordinator—most of the time they are in charge of the events and things that we have to rent seats or tables or talk to all the organizations or whatever, they do that stuff, etc. But they always need my permission or approval to do those things. Most of the time, I am the one who gives them the main information that they need, the main details that they may not know, and the permission to do certain things.
What is the goal of this organization/club?
The goal for us is to keep our community of Latinos close and have this little part of our traditions and ancestors like us. I know, as a person from another country, from South America, it's totally different to live here because here people are more … distant. Latinos, we are really touchy and hugging, and we always want that cariño[affection] from other people and that love. Especially for me, it was really hard to come here to Andrews by myself and didn’t have those people around me who were hugging me and telling me, “Good morning, how was your day” and things like that. So it's really nice to have this community here where you can share those cultures and traditions and that kind of cariño and love to others. The main goal, the title for this year, is “Un mundo, Una Familia.” We try to bring the idea that it doesn't matter where you come from, but we are all like a family. We are all united together. The goal is to keep our community close and share our traditions [with] others and not only Hispanics because AULA has a lot of non-Latino members, but we can share part of us, our traditions through events and such.
What is your overall experience as an Andrews student so far?
As I was saying earlier, for me it was really hard to move. I'm the youngest in my house, so it was hard for me to just leave home and come here to Andrews, it was something new for me, and I was really sad, and I felt lonely here. When I got here, I was like, “I don’t want to talk to people, I’m just here to study, so I don’t need friends, I don’t need people.” Then I met Dr. Navia, who was my bio advisor. He was the one who told me that we had a Latino club here that I could be part of. He was the one who introduced me to the Latino community here at Andrews. We also have Makarios, which is a ministry of Latinos too, and it made me feel welcome. It made me think, “OK, this is not home, but it is a little part of home here.” I can feel close to my cultures and traditions, you know? So, as an Andrews student here, it's been really good because I know that though I am far from home, I have this little part of home here.
It's been hard too, because classes are hard, obviously, especially pre-med, pre-dent, it could be really hard, but it's a really great experience [at Andrews]. It helps you not only connect with your cultures and traditions but it also helps you to connect with God, which is something that I was looking for. I was looking for a community in which I could be part of, not only for people of my culture but a community in which I could grow closer to God. So Andrews gave me all of that. It gave me a place where I could feel comfortable with my culture, make friends, family, and actually bring me closer to God, so it's been a really, really nice experience here.
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of 老司机传媒. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, 老司机传媒 or the Seventh-day Adventist church.