At California State University, Stanislaus (Stan State), the majority of the students consider themselves of Mexican descent, or other Spanish-speaking ethnic group. This group of students make up about 44 percent of the student population at Stan State. Also, 65 percent of the student population is made up by females.
These numbers caught María Torres’s attention, a Social Work graduate student.
Torres has been a student at Stan State since she was an undergraduate. She double-majored in Psychology and Sociology because she wanted to have a deeper understanding of the human behavior in order to help others.
“I thought it was very important to know what was going on within my community because I am also part of it, and because my son is also Mexican-American. When the time had come to present what I was going to do in order to graduate, I thought of doing something to help out my community. Something that will help open more opportunities for these people who may be going through such distress, regardless of it caused by school or personal reasons,” said Torres.
Torres, through her research, wants to find an answer as to why Mexican-American females, either from Stan State or other campuses, are experiencing an emotional crisis causing them to have suicidal thoughts and depression.
Moreover, as Torres was going through her literature review, she found that such issue was not being written about, giving her little help for her thesis project. In fact, that is why Torres decided to make her own research by designing her own survey.
The Social Work student has distributed her survey electronically to those who consider themselves as Mexican-American female students. Through her survey, Torres asks the students what event(s) may trigger a college Mexican-American female student to go through depression. Also, the survey’s questions are designed for Torres to have a profound understanding as to what triggers the emotional state within the Mexican-American female community, and the questions are also designed for the student to respond without difficulty.
An anonymous student at Stan State considers herself as Mexican-American. The student is one out of many female students who have completed Torres’s survey. The student is kept anonymous due to the fact that Torres’s research is not yet published.
“While completing the survey, I reflected on people of minorities – including myself – and what they have to go through when experiencing depression. The majority of the time, these people are scared to look for help, or they simply do not know how to ask for help or how to start asking for it,” said the student.
This student was inspired to complete Torres’s survey because she wants to help and contribute to Torres’s research in order to find a solution to the issue and the necessary resources within the Mexican-American community. She also feels as if she is doing her part as a good Chicana that she is.
“I am not only getting involve just because I identify myself with such community, but also because it’s fascinating when my community, our community, is given importance. Especially us women,” expressed the student.
Torres wants to eventually come up with the right resources to offer a safe place for such students who go through depression, suicidal ideologies, and/or other emotional crisis, due to the fact that throughout her research, she learned that such students only feel comfortable speaking of their situation with other students of similar backgrounds.
Torres appreciates the support of the Mexican-American community, especially the students’, and for their help and contribution to her research, and wishes them all the wisdom and knowledge in order to continue with their education.
CORRECTION: The original story that ran on March 29 incorrectly attributed alarm on Torres’ part regarding statistical information. The story has been corrected by removing these instances in the subsequent edition on April 4.