On May 10, the department of Languages and Applied Linguistics hosted a visit by Harbor High School students and their parents; the visit was sponsored by Spanish Studies and the department of LAAL. The group consisted of 9 parents who form part of Harbor High’s English Learner Advisory Council as well over 30 students, many of whom have recently migrated to Santa Cruz from Latin-American countries.
The visit began with a Spanish language panel consisting of Erika García and Ivette Orozco, 2 UCSC Spanish majors. Erika and Ivette described their journey to higher education, and they talked about their research interests and experiences. The panel also included Xiomara Lopez from El Centro, UCSC’s Chicanx and Latinx resource center, who talked about the resources and community building opportunities that the center offers. The panel was moderated by Christian Ruvalcaba, assistant professor of Languages and Applied Linguistics. The Harbor High visitors asked a range of questions about the university and the resources available to support incoming students.
After the panel, Assistant Prof. Ruvalcaba led the group on a Spanish language tour of the UCSC campus that included the Quarry Plaza, the Humanities 1 building, and the McHenry Library. After several banana slug sightings, the tour concluded with lunch at the Cowell/Stevenson dining hall.
