Yeiry Guevara
President, Spanish Club
Growing while you're in college is one thing, but learning how to grow? Yet that's how Yeiry Guevara describes her Ithaca experience. "Being at the College has enabled me to tap into resources I never knew I had," she explains.
That personal development includes Yeiry's role as a set-up manager for the Office of Conference and Event Services and her ambitious work with the Spanish Club. Sophomore year she came to the club full of ideas, many of which, such as offering free Spanish-language tutoring to students during exam time and celebrating the Day of the Dead College-wide, were enthusiastically received. "To get that kind of response to my ideas was so empowering," Yeiry recalls. "All those leadership skills came into play." She is now in her second year as club president.
The daughter of Salvadoran immigrants, Yeiry loves being able to use her language skills and cultural knowledge to help others. For example, she recently served as a translator for a Park student’s documentary on U.S. border relationships.
She has her own personal experience of culture clash as well: "I remember romping in the snow my first winter at Ithaca when someone asked, 'How many of you are skiers?' A lot of hands shot up. I said, 'Actually, this is the first time I’ve seen snow!' "
Yeiry plans a career in international publishing, and an internship at the University of Houston's Arte Público Press this past summer (and next) allows her to draw on her two minors -- Spanish and Latin American studies -- as well as her passionate love of Latino literature. "I've come to the conclusion that there isn't any place better than Ithaca to begin an odyssey of the mind," she says.