Running head: VOICE ANALYSIS PAPER

Voice Analysis Paper

Tony Ringuette
Western Michigan University

VOICE ANALYSIS PAPER

2
Migrant Students

Migrant students are a population that is often times overlooked. People often times
think about African-American students, Hispanic students, international students, or LGBTQ
students, but not migrant students. Migrant students are a real specific population who are often
times Hispanic, first-generation college students, and come from families who fall below the
poverty line. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, migrant labor involves workers who move
about systematically from one region to another offering their services on a temporary, usually
seasonal basis. According to Nunez, they are often times considered an invisible population
due to the lack of attention received from the communities where they live and work (as cited in
Ramirez, 2012). They typically work long days six or seven days a week making less than
minimum wage. The average family income is $15,000 to $17,499 (Ramirez, 2012).
They face barriers that most cannot even fathom. According to Morse & Hammer
(1998), some of the barriers that they face are poverty, language, cultural differences, and the
fact that they are constantly moving. All of these things were also mentioned by the three former
migrant workers interviewed.
According to Roberto Sustaita, a freshman, migrant student at Western Michigan
University, one of the most difficult things for migrant students to deal with while they are in
high school is the amount that they move around. Sometimes they will change schools in the
middle of a semester making it difficult both to maintain relationships and also to succeed in the
classroom (R. Sustaita, personal communication, November 21, 2014). The nature of the work
that both the student and their parents do puts these students at a disadvantage from the

VOICE ANALYSIS PAPER

beginning. Due to the lifestyle, migrant students have the highest drop-out rate, which is nearly
50% (Ramirez, 2012).
My Experience
The most beneficial part of this project was having the opportunity to meet with
individuals who were at one point migrant workers and made that transition to college. One of
them is currently a student at Western Michigan University while the other two are alumni and
staff. Both staff members have been involved with the recruitment of migrant students. These
interviews gave more insight than any research or walking around on any campus could. The
three people that were interviewed were Erasmo Salinas, an Assistant Director of Admissions at
WMU, Gustavo Echavarria, coordinator of outreach and recruitment for the Campus Assistance
Migrant Program (CAMP), and Roberto Sustaita.
Erasmo was able to give insight on what it was like to grow up in a family of migrant
workers. While he did not experience being a migrant student in college he was able to give
insight on the transition from Florida to Michigan. He claimed that the largest difference was the
lack of diversity in Michigan compared to Florida (E. Salinas, personal communication,
September 15, 2014). The other big transitional issue he sees with students is that often times
these students are raised in different living conditions and that can be a difficult transition at
times (E. Salinas, personal communication, September 15, 2014).
Gustavo was a migrant student and currently works with migrant students and CAMP.
Listening to him made me really think about the lack of guidance that these students receive.
When he was a student in high school he had people telling him that going to college was not
possible and that is something that many migrant students face even today. He also mentioned

VOICE ANALYSIS PAPER

that many students do not know what questions to ask or who to ask them to (G. Echavarria,
personal communication, November 20, 2014). Not having somebody telling them that college
is a possibility can make getting to college a difficult task. Gustavo said that he was able to
attend WMU because of a scholarship that he received and the same is true for many others.
When it comes to recruitment he said that you are not just recruiting the student, but the
entire family and many times when one student comes then others will come as well. It is not
just the immediate family either; it extends to the extended family too. When one is recruiting
this population they must be able to understand the population and also educate the family on
what college is all about because in most instances they have no idea what college is about (G.
Echavarria, personal communication, November 20, 2014). While Gustavo is doing a great job
at informing this population about college and some schools have counselors available for these
students, they are still not getting the attention that they need. There are only 42 federally
funded CAMP programs around the nation with millions of students that need to be reached out
to (G. Echavarria, personal communication, November 20, 2014).
Meeting with Roberto was one of the most valuable experiences that I had with this
project. Actually getting to talk with a student gave me insight as to what it is actually like to be
a migrant student. He claimed that the transition to college has not been that difficult and some
of that is due to having CAMP on campus that he can go to for support. CAMP provides a
family for some of these students who are away from their families. The challenges that he faced
growing up are similar to those barriers that Morse & Hammer mentioned. While he faced some
difficulties while in high school due to being a migrant worker he was able to develop time
management skills that have made his transition from high school to college a lot easier R.
Sustaita, personal communication, November 21, 2014).

VOICE ANALYSIS PAPER

5
College Assistance Migrant Program

Western Michigan University and 41 other institutions offer CAMP programs. CAMP is
federally funded by the United States Department of Educations Office of Migrant Education.
CAMP was created in 1972 and receives more than $15 million annually (Ramirez, 2012).
According to WMUs CAMP website, their goal is to provide supportive services to both
migrant students and their dependents by assisting them in the successful completion of their first
year of college. Some of the services offered are academic guidance, career and academic
counseling, Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and scholarship application
assistance, cultural and educational events and field trips, integration into campus life, leadership
development, and tutoring.
Campus Environments
Safety and inclusion is huge when it comes to making a student feel comfortable on
campus. The biggest thing is the influence of the campus aggregates. Dominate groups on
campus tend to feel more safe than those who may not relate to the dominate group (Strange &
Banning, 2001). The people on campus can make a huge difference on a students experience.
When it comes to migrant students I have learned that predominantly white institutions (PWI)
are typically not the best options for these students to feel at home. Often these students do not
consider English their primary language so not having as many students, faculty or staff that
speak the language can be difficult for them. Other challenges include not seeing others on
campus that look like them or not having others who they can relate to. The schools that would
be able to make these students feel the most at home are Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI).
HSIs should not be viewed the same as Historically Black Colleges/Universities (HBCU) or

VOICE ANALYSIS PAPER

womens colleges as they were not created to serve Hispanic students (Hirt, 2006). They are
required to have at least 25 percent of their students being Hispanic with at least half of them
being low-income (Contreras, Malcom, & Bensimon, 2008). While they are not specifically
designed for Hispanic students they do accommodate them better than a PWI would. A lot of
this became evident to me when I was on campus at the University of Notre Dame, Calvin
College, and Western Michigan University.
I walked around campus and tried looking at the campus through the eyes of a migrant
student and while the physical environment was not a big issue, but the one thing that stood out
to me was the lack of diversity on the campus. Moos states that, the character of an
environment is implicitly dependent on the typical characteristics of its members (as stated in
Strange & Banning, 2001, pp. 31). Most of the students I saw were white and there was no
evidence of many people speaking anything other than English. As I mentioned before, this can
make adjusting to the institution difficult. Apart from CAMP it may be difficult for these
students to find that emotional support that they need to help adjusting to college difficult. This
is why CAMP is so instrumental in these students being admitted and retained by the University.
If students do not have that support it can negatively affect their morale which can make
succeeding in the classroom difficult. Finding the right fit is so important for students and often
times in the case of minority students it is the human aggregate.
My Takeaway
I was able to learn a lot about migrant students after doing this project. I was a firstgeneration college student myself, but what I went through and what somebody like Roberto or
Gustavo went through are not even comparable. These students face so many barriers that can

VOICE ANALYSIS PAPER

put them behind or make the process of getting to college nearly impossible at times. As is
mentioned earlier, not only are these students typically first-generation, Hispanic students, and
low-income, but they also are required to move multiples times a year which can make academic
success and building relationships difficult.
It makes me want to help make a difference with this population. It is important to make
them aware that college is an option. Reaching out to them early is important because when a
student knows that college is a possibility from the beginning it makes working towards a goal a
lot easier. It also gives them more time to find scholarships to make attending college a lot
easier as both Gustavo and Roberto said if it were not for the scholarships that they received they
would not be here today.
Learning about Myself
It was a rewarding experience to learn about migrant students and the difficulties that
they face. Hearing about their difficulties and barriers made me reflect on my own personal
experiences and how my life has been. When I read that these students are often times Hispanic
and low-income I thought about how I would never be able to relate to them due to not having
lived in their shoes, but I felt that I would be able to relate to being a first-generation college
students. That was not the case; while I was a first-generation college student, it was always
assumed and expected that I would attend college. They are often told that college is not an
option or they do not know that it is an option. This project has made me realize how easy my
life has been. I now often think about how tough things are for others when something goes
wrong for me. After I spoke with Gustavo it made me want to do something to make a
difference to this population because everybody deserves that opportunity to obtain a degree in

VOICE ANALYSIS PAPER

higher education no matter where they come from. I know working in admissions I will have the
opportunity to help students in a way that many others do not and I look forward to that
opportunity.
Implications for Student Affairs and Higher Education
The biggest things that student affairs professionals can do are to just be there for these
students and educate themselves on their backgrounds. Most will never be able to relate to the
lives that these students have lived, but having an understanding of what they have gone through
can help make a difference on these students experiences in higher education. If one has the
opportunity to work with these students it is important to know the resources that are out there
for them.
Admissions have the best opportunity to make an impact on these students by reaching
out to the communities that this population lives in. Just educating students on how the higher
education system works and informing them that college is a possibility can go a long way in
helping this population enter higher education. There are only 42 CAMP programs in the
country with millions of migrant students and they cannot possibly reach every student, but if
there is an effort by many admissions offices to collaborate they could make a difference on this
population.
Conclusion
Migrant students face many barriers to higher education. Those barriers start well before
high school and can extend to while they are away at college. Making these students aware that
college is a possibility and how they can access it can go a long way in helping them overcome
these barriers and become successful students and be able to learn a nice living for both

VOICE ANALYSIS PAPER

themselves and their families. Learning about this population has allowed me to look at not only
migrant students, but all students in a different light and realize that not every student is going to
have the same opportunities and challenges. It is important to be a resource for these students
and try to understand their scenarios to the best of your ability in order to give them the best
experience.

VOICE ANALYSIS PAPER

10
References

Contreras, F. E., Malcom, L. E., & Bensimon, E. M. (2008). Hispanic-serving institutions:

Closeted identity and the production of equitable outcomes for Latino/a students. In M.
Gasman, B. Baez, & C. Sotello Viernes, Understanding minority-serving institutions (pp.
71-91). Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
Hirt, J. B. (2006). Where you work matters. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, Inc.
Migrant labor. (2014). In Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/381844/migrant-labour.
Morse, S. & Hammer, P. C. (1998). Migrant students attending college: Facilitating their
success. Charleston, WV: Clearinghouse on Rural Education and Small Schools.
Ramirez, A. D. (2012). The impact of the college assistance migrant program on migrant student
academic achievement in the California state university system. Journal of Hispanic
Higher Education. Doi: 10.1177/1538192711435557
Strange, C. C. & Banning, J. H. (2001). Educating by design: Creating campus learning
environments that work. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.