Interview with Sandra Martinez (Class of 2013) by Marina Henke

Sandra Martinez ('13) recounts life at Bowdoin as a Latina woman. She describes Bowdoin as a space where she came more into her cultural identity, while also being where she felt the limitations and challenges of being a minority on campus. Additionally, Martinez discusses the simultaneous division and alliance between the African American Society and the Latin American Student Organization, and the various means students went to in bridging or instating this distance. As a math major, Martinez confronted the realities of a faculty lacking in diversity, and explored how this impacted her academic career and confidence in the classroom. Finally she speaks to the way that she learned to command her opinions, against at times people’s wishes, and gives advice to future Bowdoin women of color for how they can make space for themselves.