COMMUNITY & CULTURE
TAKE IT FROM ME…
with Virginia Braxs
EDUCATOR. RISK TAKER. COMPASSIONATE MENTOR.
By Diane Kline
W
hen Virginia Braxs left Argentina in 1988 to
earn her master’s degree in Spanish literature
at Washington University, little did she know
she would be planting roots for a lifetime,
as well as changing lives in the St. Louis
Hispanic community.
Braxs is a senior lecturer of Spanish at the university, where she also
runs the Latino Youth Tutoring/Mentoring Program for students from
kindergarten through 12th grade. Her passion is helping first-generation
Latinos (regardless of immigration status) to attend college, guiding
them and their families through everything from ACT preparation to
the financial aid process.
A lover of the arts, she helped create and lead the Hispanic Arts
Council of St. Louis, and also hosted several programs on KDHX Radio
about Hispanic culture. Braxs is also a co-founder of Upstream Theater,
dedicated to producing plays by international playwrights, for which
she was honored in 2014 with the Woman of Achievement Award in
Cultural Enrichment.
In her journey from South America to the American Midwest, Braxs
has crossed many miles and faced many challenges. She shares her
thoughts about her experiences creating an authentic life a continent
away from her roots.
Not getting educated is a recipe for poverty.
Helping first-generation Latino students get to college begins with the
parents. They can’t have the same expectations as they did in the rural
areas of Latin America where people marry at 16, or where children
finish high school only to help support the family. If we can’t change
the parents’ minds about the value of higher education, it’s very hard to
help the student.
Confidence is a process.
Latin America is still very patriarchal in some regions where women are
expected to be submissive, do what they are told and get married. It was
hard 30 years ago for me to make the transition to a new country with
language barriers and cultural differences. Now, I help others navigate
the road to make America their own country. I see their success and
think, “Wow, look what they’ve done!”
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GAZELL