First generation American recognized for essay about heritageAugust 05, 2021

“I always felt that English was my worst subject in high school,” Aileen Muñoz said.  

Little did she know that just a year after graduating from high school, Muñoz would win 2nd place in the Midland College Nonfiction Writing Contest for an essay she first wrote in a developmental college English class.  The essay also led to her giving a presentation at the Midland College Diversity Conference this past February.

The essay, entitled “How My Mom Brought Me Closer to My Culture through Folklórico,” is a description of how as a child growing up in El Paso, Muñoz learned about Mexican folklórico dances and costumes from her Mexican immigrant mother. 

“I remember that I was always interested in learning about how each region in Mexico had a different dress style in ballet folklorico,” Muñoz stated.  “My mom and I would spend hours talking about the various regions and how each had unique customs.  The dances that I learned were a wonderful way to celebrate our heritage.

“When we were given an assignment to write an essay in my first college English class, I wrote about my experiences learning ballet folklórico and the culture that accompanied the dances.”

During her second English course—this time college-level English—Muñoz continued to develop the essay.  Her English professor, Dr. William Christopher Brown, was so impressed with her writing style and the sincerity of her words that he encouraged her to give a presentation about the subject at the Diversity Conference.

“I was nervous at first, but Dr. Brown was very patient with me,” Muñoz explained.  “He spent time after class helping me perfect my presentation, and I even created PowerPoint slides to enhance my presentation.  It was a great experience, and I’m grateful to Dr. Brown for recommending me to present at the conference.  I can honestly say that being able to write about something that had meaning to me really helped me improve my writing abilities.”

“Aileen did a phenomenal job at the conference,” Brown said.  “The fact that as a first-year college student Aileen presented a paper during an international conference that she began in a developmental English class at the age of 18 is highly significant.  This is exactly what professionals with graduate-level degrees do.  My first conference presentation occurred when I was 29 and at the end of obtaining my master’s degree.  I’m was just dazzled by her presentation.  Incredible!”

Muñoz wants to be a nurse.  She will spend one more year finishing her nursing prerequisite courses and then plans to enroll in Midland College’s Associate Degree Nursing program to prepare to become a registered nurse.  She is the first in her family to attend college, but said that she will not be the last.  She is paving the way for her three younger sisters, ages 16, 15 and 5, to also go to college.