Imelda Muñoz: Finding a passion, following a dream

Posted on Nov 02, 2011 Recommend Twitter

When Professor Maria Villaseñor asked Imelda Muñoz to speak to her after class, Muñoz worried that she was in trouble.

As it turned out, Dr. Villaseñor wanted her to apply to be a McNair Scholar, a nationwide program to increase the number of underrepresented, low-income and first-generation students who earn doctoral degrees by encouraging undergraduate research.

Under Dr. Villaseñor’s mentorship, Muñoz discovered her passion for Chicana/o Studies, a concentration within the Human Communication major. Her research focus is the Irish Gaelic Revival movement of the late 19th century and the Chicano movement of the 1960s – how both groups reclaimed their identity after colonization.

Muñoz spent her junior year exploring this topic while studying abroad at the National University of Ireland, Galway, and she plans to develop her findings for her senior capstone project and scholarly publications.

As a sophomore, Muñoz co-authored an article with Dr. Villaseñor and fellow McNair student Maria Reyes (HCOM ’11). The article discusses mentoring strategies for Latina students and will appear next year in the Journal of College Student Retention.

Muñoz hopes to continue her education through the doctoral level and one day teach at a university. “My bachelor’s degree is for my family,” she said, acknowledging the sacrifices of her parents, who migrated from Mexico and took agricultural jobs to provide a better life for their children. “My master’s will be for my community. And my Ph.D. will be for myself.”